The Vince Coglianese Show

Tuesday 6/4/19: Heritage's James Carafano, CEI's Wayne Crews, Breitbart's Charlie Spiering, Communism Memorial Foundation's Marion Smith and Washington Post's Fenit Nirappil

6am – A         INTERVIEW - James Carafano - vice president of foreign and defense policy studies, The Heritage Foundation

Protests expected as Trump meets with May during second day in Britain. President Trump meets with outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May Tuesday as the two talk with corporate executives from the United States and United Kingdom, before an afternoon news conference on the second day of Trump's state visit. The leaders' top priority is a possible bilateral trade deal to take effect once the U.K. leaves the European Union. "Big Trade Deal is possible once U.K. gets rid of the shackles. Already starting to talk," Trump tweeted Monday. Still, after Monday's day of pageantry and a war of words with London’s mayor, Trump could be greeted by tens of thousands of protesters as part of a "Carnival of Resistance."

James Carafano: Believe it or not, THIS will be Trump's number one job when he goes to London. (Fox News) --  This trip is not for the pomp and circumstance. There are substantive items on the president’s agenda -- items that could significantly affect the future of the transatlantic community. Topping the list is, of course, is Brexit. Trump is famously pro-Brexit, and by the time Trump lands in London, the Conservative party will be well on its way to picking a new leader -- one who will be committed to leading the U.K. out of the European Union. Right now, the deadline for Brexit is October. Expect the new leader to commit to that. Don’t be surprised if, in the end, the government rejects the EU’s last-offered conditions for leaving and opts for the so-called “hard Brexit” -- i.e., just up and leaves. Trump’s No. 1 job is to deliver the message, “Don’t worry. Be happy.” Britain will thrive after Brexit, and post-Brexit Britain’s “special relationship” with the U.S. will be as special as ever. To assure the Brits that this will be the case, Trump should reaffirm his unshakable commitment to speedily conclude a U.S.-U.K. free trade agreement as soon as Britain is free of the EU while signaling to Congress his desire to pass enabling legislation as quickly as possible. Job No. 2 should be to start revitalizing what has made the U.S.-U.K. relationship so special: our joint commitment to transatlantic security that spanned two world wars, a Cold War, and lots of messy stuff in between and after. Trump and the new conservative leadership in London will need to work as a team. The NATO summit coming up in London at the end of the year will mark the alliance’s 70th anniversary. The U.S. and Britain must work in tandem, pressing others in the alliance to better prepare for future challenges and sustain the momentum for NATO enlargement.

6am – B         NRA responds to Gillibrand put-down by posting her 2008 letter praising gun-rights group. (Fox News) -- One day after Kirsten Gillibrand slammed the National Rifle Association (NRA) as the "worst organization in this country," the group on Monday posted an effusive letter it received from Gillibrand in 2008 in which she praised "the work that the NRA does to protect gun owners rights" and said she hoped to work with it "for many years in Congress." At a fiery Fox News town hall in Dubuque, Iowa Sunday, Gillibrand charged that the NRA cares "more about their profits than the American people" and "lies" for the sake of profit.  But the NRA has countered that Gillibrand, whose campaign has attracted at most 1 percent support in national and early voting state polls, was a cynical political opportunist trying to gin up support for her candidacy. "Gillibrand called us the worst org in the country, but when she represented NY20, she wrote us: 'I appreciate the work that the NRA does to protect gun owners rights, and I look forward to working with you for many years,'" the NRA wrote on Twitter. "Now that she’s looking to crack 1%, she’ll say anything." Gillibrand, according to the NRA, sent the letter to NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox on Sept. 19, 2008, when she was a member of Congress representing a rural district in upstate New York. The ILA, or Institute for Legislative Action, is the lobbying arm of the NRA. "I want to be very clear that I always have and always will believe that the correct interpretation of the 2nd amendment [sic] is that it applies to an individual's right to carry guns, and does not apply generally to the National Guard or a group of individuals in a State," Gillibrand wrote to Cox, following what she described as a meeting with him the previous August. Gillibrand, in the letter, went on to reject a slew of gun control measures, saying she was "adamantly opposed" to the idea "outright banning firearms for cosmetic features, bullets of an [sic] random size, or banning magazines from holding an arbitrary number of cartridges." Those limitations, she said, were "random" and intended solely to "limit[] gun ownership or usage." Gillibrand concluded: "I appreciate the work that the NRA does to protect gun owners rights, and I look forward to working with you for many years.”

6am – C         Drinking coffee, even 25 cups a day, not bad for your heart, new study says. (Fox News) -- Coffee lovers rejoice! A new study published Monday states that coffee isn't as bad for the human heart as previously thought. Researchers with the William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary University of London said they debunked previous studies that claimed drinking coffee — even up to 25 cups a day — would stiffen arteries. “Despite the huge popularity of coffee worldwide, different reports could put people off from enjoying it. Whilst we can’t prove a causal link in this study, our research indicates coffee isn’t as bad for the arteries as previous studies would suggest," Dr. Kenneth Fung, who led the data analysis for the research, said. Analyzing more than 8,000 people in the United Kingdom, the study divided people into three groups depending on their coffee consumption. Fung said that while the study did include people who drank up to 25 cups per day, the average amount of coffee participants drank was five cups per day.

6am – D         INTERVIEW - WAYNE CREWS - Competitive Enterprise Institute Vice President, also directs our Center for Technology and Innovation Policy.

Facebook, Google and other tech giants to face antitrust investigation by House lawmakers. House lawmakers plan a sweeping review of Facebook, Google and other technology giants to determine if they’ve become so large and powerful that they stifle competition and harm consumers, marking a new, unprecedented antitrust threat for an industry that’s increasingly under siege by Congress, the White House and 2020 presidential candidates. The probe, announced Monday by Rep. David Cicilline (R.I.), the leader of the House’s top anti-trust subcommittee, is expected to be far reaching and comes at a moment when Democrats and Republicans find themselves in rare alignment on the idea that the tech industry has been too unregulated for too long. The sentiment spurred a sharp sell-off in tech stocks to start the week.

WAYNE CREWS:  Will Antitrust End Trump's Deregulatory Push? Revelations that antitrust enforcers have conspired to divide jurisdiction and initiate antitrust investigations into Google and Apple (the U.S. Department of Justice) and Amazon and Facebook (the Federal Trade Commission) could well cement the end of Donald Trump claiming the mantle of a deregulatory president. Today’s technology companies are not anticompetitive, as antitrust boosters claim. They are the end result of intense competitive processes.

6am – E         Pastor tells congregation why he prayed for Trump. (Politico)  -- The pastor of a Northern Virginia church where President Donald Trump made an unscheduled visit over the weekend has explained why he publicly prayed for the president, acknowledging to his congregation that “some within our church … are hurt that I made this decision.” “Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we didn’t see coming, and we’re faced with a decision in a moment when we don’t have the liberty of deliberation, so we do our best to glorify God,” Pastor David Platt of McLean Bible Church said Sunday evening in a statement to church members titled “Prayer for the President.” “Today, I found myself in one of those situations.” Hours earlier, Trump’s motorcade made an unannounced detour to the church while returning to the White House from Trump National Golf Club in nearby Sterling, Va. “President Donald J. Trump is visiting McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA, to visit with the Pastor and pray for the victims and community of Virginia Beach,” Judd Deere, a spokesman for the White House, said in a statement on Sunday, referring to the mass shooting at a municipal complex that left 13 people dead, including the gunman. Platt explained in the statement to his congregation that he had been caught off guard. “At the end of my sermon at the 1:00 worship gathering, I stepped to the side for what I thought would be a couple of moments in quiet reflection as we prepared to take the Lord’s Supper,” he said. “But I was immediately called backstage and told that the President of the United States was on his way to the church, would be there in a matter of minutes, and would like for us to pray for him.” Platt, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, also explained that he prayed for the president because 1 Timothy 2:1-6 urges, in part, that Christians pray “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

6am – F         Judge orders Paul Manafort to be transferred to New York City’s notorious Rikers Island. (Fox News) -- Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who was sentenced earlier this year to four years in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, will be transferred later this week from a minimum security facility in Pennsylvania to New York City’s Rikers Island, a source close to Manafort told Fox News. Rikers Island is the famous jail in the shadow of LaGuardia Airport. It has been the temporary home of some of the most high-profile violent criminals in the city, including  David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam; and Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon. "He’s not a mob boss," the source close to Manafort said. A New York State judge ordered the transfer at the request of New York City District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. He will be held in solitary confinement for his own protection, the source said. The move is expected to happen as early as Thursday. Vance, a Democrat, said in March that a New York grand jury charged Manafort with 16 counts including residential mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and other charges. He said at the time that “no one is beyond the law in New York.” Manafort cannot be pardoned by President Trump for state crimes.

Tuesday 6/4/19: Heritage's James Carafano, CEI's Wayne Crews, Breitbart's Charlie Spiering, Communism Memorial Foundation's Marion Smith and Washington Post's Fenit Nirappil

5am – A/B/CFelons from D.C. could be able to vote from prison under proposed bill. (Washington Post/By Fenit Nirappil) -- A group of D.C. lawmakers wants to make the nation’s capital the first jurisdiction to restore voting rights to felons while they’re still incarcerated. Council member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large), with a majority of the 13-member body, plans to introduce legislation Tuesday to repeal language in a 1955 law that disenfranchises D.C. residents upon felony convictions. Every state except Maine and Vermont has stripped voting rights from prisoners. “Unfortunately in the District and across the country, incarcerated people make up a sizable population of residents,” White said. “They don’t lose their citizenship when they are incarcerated, so they shouldn’t lose their right to vote.” The District is among jurisdictions with the fewest restrictions regarding felons and voting. Felons in the District and 14 states automatically regain their voting rights when they are released from prison, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Elections officials visit the D.C. jail to help residents who are awaiting trial cast absentee ballots. White’s bill would thrust the District into the vanguard of the felon enfranchisement movement. Bills to eliminate lifetime voting bans for felons and to restore voting rights to those on parole or probation have won bipartisan support in statehouses and at the ballot box. But allowing people to vote while serving time remains controversial. The issue briefly flared up in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race, when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) backed prisoner voting during a recent CNN town hall. The rest of the field has been cool to the idea, although some suggested allowing nonviolent offenders to vote. President Trump and others have blasted prisoner voting, suggesting that Democrats would restore the vote to the Boston Marathon bomber and others serving sentences for heinous crimes. White said he’s bracing for similar arguments against his bill. “The Constitution makes no statement directly or indirectly that the right to vote is somehow contingent on behavior,” White said. “It is a very slippery slope when we start to decide who does and does not have the fundamental rights of democracy based on what we see as the level of crime they commit, nor do I believe that any of these extreme examples of who should not vote would tip an election.” Six of 13 D.C. Council members have agreed to co-introduce White’s bill: Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5), Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) and David Grosso (I-At Large).

5am – D         IMMIGRATION NEWS:

SCOTUS DENIES ADMIN REQUEST TO FAST TRACK DACA SUIT. (Fox News) -- The Trump administration is appealing a lower court ruling allowing the DACA program for young undocumented immigrants to continue. The administration wants the program to end, but four lower appeals courts had blocked it with nationwide injunctions. The Justice Department last year asked the high court to intervene and take up the issue now on an expedited basis.

NEW CITIZENS HIT 5 YEAR HIGH. (Fox News) -- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services set a five-year high in 2018 for the number of people who took the oath of citizenship – despite heated criticism from Democrats about the Trump administration's immigration policies.

BANGLADESHIS CROSSING THE BORDER. (Daily Caller) -- Over 150 Bangladeshis identifying as minors and determined to be adults were transferred into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody between October and March 8. A number of Bangladeshis in ICE custody and claiming to be minors were found to have passports and birth certificates with contradictory information, including their birth dates.

AFRICAN MIGRANTS CROSSING ILLEGALLY. (Townhall) --U.S. Border Patrol apprehended a large group of 116 illegal immigrants in the Del Rio Sector on Thursday who hailed from Cameroon, Congo, and Angola. The group was caught on video wading across the Rio Grande River attempting to illegally enter the U.S.

BORDER PATROL RESCUES 2 HANDICAPPED MIGRANTS. (Daily Caller) -- Border Patrol rescued two handicapped migrants — a double amputee and a paraplegic — after they were deliberately thrown into the Rio Grande River by smugglers.

OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING AT BORDER. (Fox News) -- An "officer-involved shooting" occurred at about 7:30 p.m. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after the driver of a white pick-up truck attempting to enter the United States failed to stop for an inspection, a CBP spokesperson confirmed to Fox News. It was unclear if there were injuries. Northbound vehicle and pedestrian lanes at the port of entry were shut down for approximately 30 minutes due to the incident. San Diego police officers were brought in to aide Customs and Border Protection agents.

5am – E         CONTEMPT VOTES:

House Dems set contempt vote against Barr and McGahn. (Politico) --  The move comes as a growing number of Democrats want to impeach the president. The House will vote next week to hold Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt of Congress for defying congressional subpoenas, according to multiple Democratic sources. The resolution would clear the way for the House Judiciary Committee to take Barr and McGahn to court to enforce their subpoenas and are a crucial step for Democrats seeking to accelerate their obstruction of justice investigation against President Donald Trump. "This Administration’s systematic refusal to provide Congress with answers and cooperate with Congressional subpoenas is the biggest cover-up in American history, and Congress has a responsibility to provide oversight on behalf of the American people,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement. Barr has failed to comply with a subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller's fully unredacted report and underlying evidence; McGahn balked at a subpoena to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.

HOUSE DEM HEARINGS: The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a series of hearings on the Mueller report, beginning next week with former Nixon White House counsel John Dean.  (CNN)The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a series of hearings on special counsel Robert Mueller's report, beginning next week with former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, a key witness during Watergate, as the question of Mueller himself testifying still looms. The committee announced that Dean, a CNN contributor, and other experts would testify next week, and additional hearings would be held as part of an effort to highlight the findings of the Mueller report as Democrats grapple with whether to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. When Mueller made a statement on his report last week, he said he did not wish to testify before Congress, but House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has said he still wants the special counsel to appear.

Senator John Cornyn @JohnCornyn: Calling a convicted felon as the first witness?: House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is planning hearings on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report , beginning with an appearance by John Dean, former White House counsel under President Richard Nixon.

CENSUS CONTEMPT VOTE: The House Oversight Committee announced they will vote to hold both AG Barr + Commerce Secretary Ross in contempt of Congress re the cmte's investigation into the citizenship Q added to the 2020 Census

House Dems to hold Barr, Ross in contempt over census question. Cummings said he would consider postponing the contempt votes if Barr and Ross turn over the requested documents by Thursday, June 6. House Democrats are moving to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena seeking information about efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. “Unfortunately, your actions are part of a pattern,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the House Oversight and Reform, wrote to Barr and Ross in separate letters Monday. “The Trump administration has been engaged in one of the most unprecedented cover-ups since Watergate, extending from the White House to multiple federal agencies and departments of the government and across numerous investigations.” Cummings said he would consider postponing the contempt votes, which have not yet been scheduled, if Barr and Ross turned over the requested documents by Thursday. The committee first authorized the subpoena in April as part of its probe into the origins of the administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the next census. Democrats have argued the move would result in an under-count of people who live in areas with high immigrant populations in a bid to boost Republicans’ political prospects. Last week, it was revealed that the citizenship question was added at the urging of Thomas Hofeller, a now-deceased GOP gerrymandering guru who argued that adding such a question to the census could benefit Republicans electorally by triggering the redrawing of certain congressional districts. The Trump administration had said that adding a citizenship question would allow it to better enforce the Voting Rights Act.

INTERVIEW – STEVE MOORE – former campaign economic advisor to President Trump, economist at The Heritage Foundation and author of book “Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy”

Reeling from tariff threat, Mexico begins immigration talks in Washington. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Fighting to stave off punitive tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, a senior Mexican delegation was set to begin high level talks on Monday in Washington, where it will be pushed to do more to hold back Central American migrants. Trump says he will apply tariffs of 5% on all Mexican goods on June 10, and increase the rate in coming months to 25% if Mexico does not substantially halt illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border, which is at a decade high this year. Global equities tumbled after Trump’s unexpected threat last week against the United States biggest trade partner, as investors feared his aggressive trade diplomacy could tip the United States and other major economies into recession. With just a week until the first tariffs bite, the delegation led by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard may have a hard time convincing U.S. officials that Mexico is doing enough on immigration to avoid punishment, despite having signaled in recent days it was prepared to further tighten security. The U.S.-Mexican talks begin on Monday with a meeting between Mexican Economy Secretary Graciela Marquez and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. On Wednesday, Ebrard meets U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump on Sunday called Mexico an “abuser” of the United States and said he wanted action, not talk. Mexico has signaled it would retaliate to the tariffs, with targets likely to include farm products on Trump supporting states.

Kevin Hassett, President Trump’s top economist, to leave White House. Kevin Hassett, the White House’s top economist, will leave the administration, President Trump announced on Twitter late Sunday, on the eve of his trip to Europe. Hassett, 57, who has served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers since September 2017, is leaving as Trump confronts an increasingly hostile trade war on two fronts — with China and with Mexico, the latter of which Trump threatened with tariffs last week if it doesn’t do more to stem illegal migration. A longtime conservative economist, Hassett helped shape the 2017 Republican tax law and has been a staunch defender of the president’s policies on other issues. Historically, he has been an advocate of open trade policies, although in recent months he has been put in the position of defending Trump’s most confrontational approach.

INTERVIEW – MARK KRIKORIAN – Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) – analyzed the Trump administration imposing tariffs on all goods from Mexico.

Trump ‘deadly serious’ about Mexico tariffs, Mulvaney says. President Donald Trump is “deadly serious” about his threat to impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico over his concerns of illegal immigration, Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said Sunday. “He is absolutely, deadly serious,” Mulvaney said on Fox News Sunday. “I fully expect these tariffs to go on to at least the 5 percent level on June 10.” Trump last week tweeted the United States would impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico “until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP.” Mulvaney doubled-down on that timeline Sunday, explaining that the White House “for months” has been talking about an “emergency situation” at the U.S.-Mexico border. “The president is deadly serious about fixing the situation at the southern border,” Mulvaney said. The president tweeted last week the tariff would “gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied.” The White House later clarified the tariff would increase to 10 percent on July 1; 15 percent on Aug. 1; 20 percent on Sept. 1; and 25 percent on Oct. 1. “The reason we’re doing things people don’t expect is that we’re facing things at the border we never experienced before,” Mulvaney said on NBC. “We’re using extraordinary tools because there is extraordinary circumstances that dictate those.” Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan also defended the use of tariffs to deter illegal immigration on Sunday, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

Mark Warner says Barr has “little credibility” to review origins of Russia probe. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat in the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned Attorney General’s William Barr credibility to oversee a Justice Department probe into the origins of the Russia investigation, accusing him of acting like President Trump’s “personal advocate.” “Mr. Barr has very little credibility with me and I think the vast majority of, candidly, not just Democrats, but many Americans because he time and again is not acting as our attorney general, but as a personal advocate for Donald Trump,” Warner said on “Face the Nation” Sunday.

William Barr Blasts Media For Ignoring Surveillance Against Trump Campaign. (Daily Caller) — Attorney General William Barr accused the media in a new interview of being uninterested in finding out about the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, and of shirking their duty as watchdogs for the public. “Normally the media would be interested in letting the sunshine in and finding out what the truth is,” Barr said in an interview with CBS News. “And usually the media doesn’t care that much about protecting intelligence sources and methods. But I do and I will.” Barr was discussing his plans for declassification of documents related to the surveillance activities against the Trump campaign during the Russia investigation.

Schiff: Mueller Still Needs To Testify

INTERVIEW – JOHN LOTT – President, Crime Prevention Research Center and author of “The War on Guns”

Virginia shooting gunman De Wayne Craddock resigned hours before mass shooting, officials say. (Washington Post) — VIRGINIA BEACH — After an unremarkable career spent tending the water and sewer systems beneath this city of 450,000, DeWayne Craddock quit on Friday morning. The engineer for Virginia Beach’s municipal government informed his bosses in an email that he was resigning, city officials said. But Craddock made one last visit to the drab brick building where he worked and methodically killed his colleagues. Investigators, Craddock’s former co-workers and residents of this stricken oceanside community on Sunday continued to grasp for clues to what precipitated the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since November. Armed with two .45-caliber pistols, at least one of them equipped with a sound suppressor and extended magazine, Craddock killed 12 people before dying in a gun battle with police. Some killers leave behind manifestos, YouTube videos or social media profiles that display a mind moving inexorably toward violence. What Craddock left was a resignation letter, according to city officials, and a work history that gave no hint of his intentions. “Right now we do not have anything glaring,” Police Chief James A. Cervera said at a news conference Sunday. He cautioned that investigators are still trying to determine a motive. Officials would not discuss what Craddock wrote in his resignation, but a person familiar with the email said it was short and there was “nothing out of the ordinary.”

Monday 6/3/19: John Lott, Joe diGenova, Mark Krikorian and Steve Moore

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MARK KRIKORIAN – Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) – analyzed the Trump administration imposing tariffs on all goods from Mexico.

Trump ‘deadly serious’ about Mexico tariffs, Mulvaney says. President Donald Trump is “deadly serious” about his threat to impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico over his concerns of illegal immigration, Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said Sunday. “He is absolutely, deadly serious,” Mulvaney said on Fox News Sunday. “I fully expect these tariffs to go on to at least the 5 percent level on June 10.” Trump last week tweeted the United States would impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico “until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP.” Mulvaney doubled-down on that timeline Sunday, explaining that the White House “for months” has been talking about an “emergency situation” at the U.S.-Mexico border. “The president is deadly serious about fixing the situation at the southern border,” Mulvaney said. The president tweeted last week the tariff would “gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied.” The White House later clarified the tariff would increase to 10 percent on July 1; 15 percent on Aug. 1; 20 percent on Sept. 1; and 25 percent on Oct. 1. “The reason we’re doing things people don’t expect is that we’re facing things at the border we never experienced before,” Mulvaney said on NBC. “We’re using extraordinary tools because there is extraordinary circumstances that dictate those.” Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan also defended the use of tariffs to deter illegal immigration on Sunday, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

8am – B/C     Trump UK state visit: The FULL three-day itinerary as Trump heads to London. (UK Express) — US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, will make a state visit to the UK from June 3 to 5. A state visit is a formal trip to the UK by a nation’s head of state and is normally at the invitation of the Queen, who acts on advice from the Government. State visits are used as ceremonial affairs and to further what is seen as Britain’s national interests.

DAY 1: MONDAY, JUNE 3:

The President will be met with a ceremonial welcome attended by the Queen, Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in the Buckingham Palace garden.

After the welcome, the Duke of Sussex will join the group for a private lunch at the palace.

The Duchess of Sussex – who gave birth to their son Archie at the beginning of May – will not attend.

Accompanied by the Duke of York, Mr and Mrs Trump will visit Westminster Abbey for a tour.

They will also meet Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall for tea at Clarence House.

Then in the evening, a state banquet will take place in the palace’s ballroom.

Mr Trump, the Queen, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will be joined by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with other UK public figures and prominent Americans living in Britain.

DAY 2: TUESDAY, JUNE 4:

On Tuesday, Mr Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May will host a business breakfast attended by the Duke of York at St James’s Palace.

Business leaders understood to be attending include Barclays CEO Jes Staley, GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Emma Walmsley, BAE Systems chairman Sir Roger Carr and the National Grid’s John Pettigrew.

Mr Trump will then visit Downing Street for talks with Theresa May, followed by a joint press conference.

In the evening, the Trumps will host a dinner at the residence of the US ambassador in Regent’s Park attended by Charles and Camilla on behalf of the Queen.

DAY 3: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5

The trip will culminate on the third day, with Mr Trump, the Queen and Prince Charles attending the national commemorative event in Portsmouth for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Following the D-Day event, Mr Trump will travel to his hotel and golf resort in Doonbeg, in the Republic of Ireland.

He will hold a meeting with Irish premier Leo Varadkar at Shannon Airport.

A visiting leader will sometimes speak at the Houses of Parliament during a state visit, but Commons Speaker John Bercow said on Tuesday he had not received a request for Mr Trump to do so.

The president has suggested he “may” meet Conservative MP Boris Johnson and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage during his visit – both of whom he described as “friends” and “good guys”, but nothing has been officially confirmed.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – STEVE MOORE – former campaign economic advisor to President Trump, economist at The Heritage Foundation and author of book “Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy”

Reeling from tariff threat, Mexico begins immigration talks in Washington. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Fighting to stave off punitive tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, a senior Mexican delegation was set to begin high level talks on Monday in Washington, where it will be pushed to do more to hold back Central American migrants. Trump says he will apply tariffs of 5% on all Mexican goods on June 10, and increase the rate in coming months to 25% if Mexico does not substantially halt illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border, which is at a decade high this year. Global equities tumbled after Trump’s unexpected threat last week against the United States biggest trade partner, as investors feared his aggressive trade diplomacy could tip the United States and other major economies into recession. With just a week until the first tariffs bite, the delegation led by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard may have a hard time convincing U.S. officials that Mexico is doing enough on immigration to avoid punishment, despite having signaled in recent days it was prepared to further tighten security. The U.S.-Mexican talks begin on Monday with a meeting between Mexican Economy Secretary Graciela Marquez and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. On Wednesday, Ebrard meets U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump on Sunday called Mexico an “abuser” of the United States and said he wanted action, not talk. Mexico has signaled it would retaliate to the tariffs, with targets likely to include farm products on Trump supporting states.

Kevin Hassett, President Trump’s top economist, to leave White House. Kevin Hassett, the White House’s top economist, will leave the administration, President Trump announced on Twitter late Sunday, on the eve of his trip to Europe. Hassett, 57, who has served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers since September 2017, is leaving as Trump confronts an increasingly hostile trade war on two fronts — with China and with Mexico, the latter of which Trump threatened with tariffs last week if it doesn’t do more to stem illegal migration. A longtime conservative economist, Hassett helped shape the 2017 Republican tax law and has been a staunch defender of the president’s policies on other issues. Historically, he has been an advocate of open trade policies, although in recent months he has been put in the position of defending Trump’s most confrontational approach.

Monday 6/3/19: John Lott, Joe diGenova, Mark Krikorian and Steve Moore

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

Mark Warner says Barr has “little credibility” to review origins of Russia probe. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat in the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned Attorney General’s William Barr credibility to oversee a Justice Department probe into the origins of the Russia investigation, accusing him of acting like President Trump’s “personal advocate.” “Mr. Barr has very little credibility with me and I think the vast majority of, candidly, not just Democrats, but many Americans because he time and again is not acting as our attorney general, but as a personal advocate for Donald Trump,” Warner said on “Face the Nation” Sunday.

William Barr Blasts Media For Ignoring Surveillance Against Trump Campaign. (Daily Caller) — Attorney General William Barr accused the media in a new interview of being uninterested in finding out about the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, and of shirking their duty as watchdogs for the public. “Normally the media would be interested in letting the sunshine in and finding out what the truth is,” Barr said in an interview with CBS News. “And usually the media doesn’t care that much about protecting intelligence sources and methods. But I do and I will.” Barr was discussing his plans for declassification of documents related to the surveillance activities against the Trump campaign during the Russia investigation.

Schiff: Mueller Still Needs To Testify

7am – B/C     Trump stops by evangelical church to pray for victims of Virginia Beach massacre. (Washington Examiner) — President Trump made an unscheduled visit to an evangelical megachurch in Vienna, Va., to pray for the victims of Friday’s mass shooting in Virginia Beach, Va., where 12 people and the gunman were killed. Trump stopped by McLean Bible Church Sunday, where he stood on the stage, head bowed, and with his hair lacking its customary careful styling. Lead pastor David Platt, holding a Bible in his right hand, placed his left hand on the president’s back and began to pray.  “We stand right now on behalf of our president and we pray for your grace and your mercy and your wisdom upon him,” Platt said. He also prayed to give Trump’s family strength and wisdom and prayed for leaders at the national and state levels. After applause from the congregation, Trump walked back off stage without making any remarks. “President Donald J. Trump is visiting McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA, to visit with the Pastor and pray for the victims and community of Virginia Beach,” White House Deputy Spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

7am – D         AOC NEWS:

AOC COMPARES BEING A BARTENDER TO INDENTURED SERVITUDE:

Ocasio-Cortez compares tipped workers’ jobs to ‘indentured servitude.’ While returning to her bartender days, freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) advocated for increasing wages and compared tipped jobs to “indentured servitude.” At The Queensboro Restaurant in New York City on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez — who previously bartended before taking on Congress — referred to the U.S. federal law that allows restaurants and other tip-related jobs to pay as low as $2.13 as a way to advocate to change the minimum hourly wage across the country to $15. “Any job that pays $2.13 an hour is not a job, it is indentured servitude,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

VETS WALK OUT OF MEETING WITH AOC:  Vets walk out of meeting with AOC after she bashes US foreign policy. Two U.S. military veterans criticized Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying the way she spoke at a closed-door Bronx community meeting Wednesday night was “BS.” Silvio Mazzella, 74, a Vietnam War veteran and treasurer of Community Board 11, said he walked out of the conference, along with former chairman of the board and Army veteran Anthony Vitaliano, 78, and another individual, reported the New York Post. “She knocks the country, she knocks the president. And that’s not what America is about,” Mazzella said. “I just couldn’t hear her BS anymore. I just got up, got my umbrella in my hand and walked right out,” former chairman of the board and Army veteran, Anthony Vitaliano, 78, said. Ocasio-Cortez’s spokesman Corbin Trent denied there was a walk-out during the conference. “The only person that left the meeting while it was underway was someone who had to go pick up their children,” he said.

7am – E         Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan won’t test Trump in GOP primary. WASHINGTON (AP) — Maryland’s Larry Hogan, the popular Republican governor in a liberal-leaning state, says he won’t challenge President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination in 2020. Hogan, who was elected to his second term last fall, says in a Washington Post Interview that “I’m not going to be a candidate for president in 2020.” Hogan had been seen as potentially the best hope of a small group of so-called Never Trump Republicans who wanted to run a prominent Republican against Trump. Hogan told The Associated Press in February that while he had serious concerns about Trump’s leadership, he had no interest in a “kamikaze mission.” Trump is facing a challenge from former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Trump rival in 2016, has contemplated a primary challenge.

Monday 6/3/19: John Lott, Joe diGenova, Mark Krikorian and Steve Moore

6am – A         President Trump’s UK Trip:       

President Trump heads to Europe: Pomp, circumstance, turmoil, 'fake news' and remembering D-Day. (Fox News) -- President Trump is in Europe for a weeklong visit that is both ceremonial and official: It will include a state visit and an audience an lavish dinner with Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family in London, D-Day commemoration ceremonies on both sides of the English Channel and his first presidential visit to Ireland. His visit to the United Kingdom comes days before British Prime Minister Theresa May will step down as head of the Conservative Party on Friday for failing to secure a Brexit deal. Trump has praised her her rival, prime ministerial hopeful Boris Johnson, saying that he thinks he would do "a very good job." Trump is not expected to meet with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who called him a "global threat." Trump has called Khan a "twin" of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, only "shorter."  Trump stirred controversy when, in an interview with the Sun, he referred to Meghan Markle, the American-born Duchess of Sussex, as "nasty" for her past criticism of him. (Markle, who just gave birth last month, was not expected to meet with Trump this week.) Trump pushed back Sunday against the report, tweeting: "I never called Meghan Markle "nasty." Made up by the Fake News Media, and they got caught cold!" The Sun posted the audio of the interview on its website.

ON SKY NEWS: On the eve of Trump’s state visit to the UK, LONDON MAYOR SADIQ KHAN calls Trump's actions "abhorrent and offensive" on women’s reproductive rights, separating children from their parents, banning Muslim countries, Paris climate accord and Charlottesville.

Donald Trump launched a Twitter broadside at London Mayor Sadiq Khan as he touched down in the UK for a state visit, calling him a "stone cold loser"

Sadiq Khan’s spokesman said that “childish insults” should be “beneath the president of the United States” after Donald Trump labelled the London Mayor a “stone cold loser” on Twitter as he arrived in the UK for a state visit

Ahead of state visit, Trump calls Markle 'nasty.' As the president arrives in London for his first UK state visit, he issued tweets about the city's mayor, Sadiq Khan, as being 'nasty' and in a recent interview he also referred to Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle as 'nasty'.

Mass protests have been planned for Pres. Trump’s upcoming state visit to the U.K., just a year after the giant ‘Trump Baby’ blimp sparked controversy in London.

6am – B/C     IRAN NEWS:

U.N. Atomic Watchdog Reports Iran's Stockpiles of Low-Enriched Uranium are Growing. (VIENNA) — The U.N. atomic watchdog said Friday that Iran continues to stay within the limitations set by the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, but reported its stockpiles of low-enriched uranium and heavy water are growing and raised questions for the first time about Iran’s adherence to a key provision intended to limit the country’s use of advanced centrifuges. In a confidential quarterly report distributed to member states and seen by The Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran has stayed within key limitations set in the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, for uranium and heavy water stockpiles. But while in past reports the IAEA said Iran’s research and development on enrichment “has been conducted using centrifuges within the limits defined in the JCPOA,” the Friday report instead changed the wording to say it “has been conducted using centrifuges specified in the JCPOA.” In a footnote, the agency said that “up to 33 IR-6 centrifuges have been installed” — which could be a possible violation of the JCPOA — and that “technical discussions in relation to the IR-6 centrifuges are ongoing.”

Report: Obama Administration Alumni Advising Iranian Regime on Dealing with Trump. The Daily Beast reported Friday that former members of President Barack Obama’s administration are advising the Iranian regime. Betsy Woodruff noted (original quotes): As the Trump administration sent warplanes and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, a small group of former Obama administration officials reached out to their contacts in the Iranian government, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Their message to Iran: Don’t take Trump’s bait. Stay calm. Conversations between former Obama officials and  Iranian government officials have been ongoing since November 2016. The Obama alumni are also reportedly passing messages from the Iranian regime to congressional Democrats

Pompeo: Trump admin willing to talk to Iran 'with no preconditions' as tensions hit boiling point. (Fox News) - Just weeks after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a renewed "pressure campaign" targeting Iran's energy sector, America's top diplomat said Sunday the Trump administration is willing to talk with Iran "with no preconditions" -- but he added that debilitating sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy will remain in effect. The U.S. is "prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions; we're ready to sit down" with Iran's leaders, Pompeo said at a press conference. He warned, however, that "the American effort to fundamentally reverse the malign activity of this Islamic Republic, this revolutionary force, is going to continue." The dramatic development comes amid rapidly escalating tensions between Iran and the United States. President Trump fired a social media broadside at the Iranian regime in May, vowing that war between Washington and Tehran would result in "the official end of Iran" before warning, "[n]ever threaten the United States again!" Rouhani was quoted by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency as saying that if the U.S. "realizes that the way it chose [to leave the nuclear deal] was incorrect, then we can sit at the negotiating table and solve any problem." Otherwise, he said, Iran has no choice but resistance. Also Sunday, Zarif dismissed Trump's invitation last month for Iranian officials to contact him about possible talks. "It's not very likely because talking is the continuation of the process of pressure. He is imposing pressure. This may work in a real estate market. It does not work in dealing with Iran," he told ABC's "This Week."

Flashback April 22: Trump: 'Iran is being given very bad advice by John Kerry'

Flashback May 9: President Trump on Thursday said former secretary of state John F. Kerry should be prosecuted for discussing the Iran nuclear deal with officials from that country after leaving office. The president raised the issue during a freewheeling exchange with reporters after an event on health care at the White House, accusing Kerry of telling Iranian officials not to speak with members of the Trump administration.

FLASHBACK May 19: Trump says war will mean 'official end of Iran,' warns 'never threaten the United States again'

6am – D/E     INTERVIEW - JOHN LOTT - President, Crime Prevention Research Center and author of "The War on Guns"

Virginia shooting gunman De Wayne Craddock resigned hours before mass shooting, officials say. (Washington Post) -- VIRGINIA BEACH — After an unremarkable career spent tending the water and sewer systems beneath this city of 450,000, DeWayne Craddock quit on Friday morning. The engineer for Virginia Beach’s municipal government informed his bosses in an email that he was resigning, city officials said. But Craddock made one last visit to the drab brick building where he worked and methodically killed his colleagues. Investigators, Craddock’s former co-workers and residents of this stricken oceanside community on Sunday continued to grasp for clues to what precipitated the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since November. Armed with two .45-caliber pistols, at least one of them equipped with a sound suppressor and extended magazine, Craddock killed 12 people before dying in a gun battle with police. Some killers leave behind manifestos, YouTube videos or social media profiles that display a mind moving inexorably toward violence. What Craddock left was a resignation letter, according to city officials, and a work history that gave no hint of his intentions. “Right now we do not have anything glaring,” Police Chief James A. Cervera said at a news conference Sunday. He cautioned that investigators are still trying to determine a motive. Officials would not discuss what Craddock wrote in his resignation, but a person familiar with the email said it was short and there was “nothing out of the ordinary.”

6am – F         Mark Warner says Barr has "little credibility" to review origins of Russia probe. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat in the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned Attorney General's William Barr credibility to oversee a Justice Department probe into the origins of the Russia investigation, accusing him of acting like President Trump's "personal advocate." "Mr. Barr has very little credibility with me and I think the vast majority of, candidly, not just Democrats, but many Americans because he time and again is not acting as our attorney general, but as a personal advocate for Donald Trump," Warner said on "Face the Nation" Sunday.

Monday 6/3/19: John Lott, Joe diGenova, Mark Krikorian and Steve Moore

5am – A/B/CSen. Kirsten Gillibrand: My national public service plan would give all Americans a path to the middle class

5am – D         Daily Beast accused of 'doxxing' alleged creator of ‘Drunk Pelosi’ video. (Fox News) -- The Daily Beast faced a heavy backlash on social media Sunday after one of its reporters was accused of doxxing a private citizen who allegedly created a manipulated video that falsely portrays House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. as if she were intoxicated and posted it on Facebook. Daily Beast reporter Kevin Poulsen tweeted Saturday night that he had been "looking for the Russian troll behind the 'Drunk Pelosi' viral video hoax. Turns out he's an itinerant forklift operator from the Bronx who's been secretly running hard-right ‘news’ outlets across social media for years. Also, not Russian." The tweet included a link to a story that identified the man by name and detailed his employment history, past relationships and social media footprint. The subheadline of the story described the man as "a sports blogger from the Bronx [who is] currently on probation for domestic battery." The article initially included a picture of the man, but that had been removed from the story as of Sunday night. The three-minute clip of a May 22 Pelosi speaking event at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, was uploaded on Facebook by a group called "Politics WatchDog." The video shows her frequently slurring her words and her voice sounding garbled. Copies of the clip had also been found on Twitter and YouTube, which the latter had removed. The man admitted to the Daily Beast that he was an administrator of the "Politics WatchDog" group, but denied posting the Pelosi video, blaming a "female admin." The Daily Beast report was met with strong criticism from reporters for outlets with varying editorial slants.      

5am – E         Gunman, 12 victims identified in Virginia Beach shooting. (CBS News) -- At least 12 people are dead after a city employee went on a shooting rampage inside a municipal building in Virginia Beach. Four others were hospitalized with injuries. Three are in critical condition. The gunman, DeWayne Craddock, a longtime public utilities employee, was killed in a shootout with police. All 12 victims were identified Saturday: 11 of them were city employees and one was a contractor. Craddock used two .45 caliber pistols in the massacre, authorities said. Officials believe the shooter purchased the weapons legally in 2016 and 2018. Armed with a .45-caliber handgun, a disgruntled city employee opened fire inside a municipal building Friday in Virginia Beach, killing 12 and wounding four others, authorities said. The gunman, later identified as Dewayne Craddock, 40, died after a long gun fight with police. Police rushed to the scene shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday. A local police officer was wounded while confronting the gunman. Chief James Cervera said in a news conference Friday that the officer was saved by his bullet-proof vest. Cervera pledged to visit the wounded officer by the end of the night. Cervera said he was a long-time employee of the Public Utilities Department. "There's no way to describe an incident such as this," Cervera said. Details emerge about gunman's service record: In 1996, DeWayne Craddock enlisted in the Virginia National Guard and was assigned to an infantry brigade combat team based in Norfolk, but was not deployed overseas, a National Guard spokesperson told CBS News. He held the rank of specialist before he was discharged in 2002. ​Gunman legally purchased weapons:  Authorities said Craddock used two .45 caliber pistols in the massacre. The shooter purchased one in 2016 and the other in 2018. All indications pointed to the Caddock legally purchasing the firearms, Ashan Benedict, ATF Special Agent in Charge, said in a news conference Saturday.