Cully Stimson, Trevor Matich and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday.
Mornings on the Mall
Friday, January 30, 2015
Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor
5am – A/B/C Super Bowl Saturday? Why Can’t The Super Bowl Be On A Saturday?
5am – D Earnest Doubles Down: Important To Draw Distinction Between "Dangerous Organization" Taliban And al Qaeda. (RCP) — At Thursday's White House press briefing, Jon Karl of ABC News' hammered returning press secretary Josh Earnest on what his deputy said about the Taliban at yesterday's briefing. Deputy White House press secretary Eric Schultz, filling in for Earnest, would not call the Taliban a "terrorist group," but instead an "armed insurgency." At today's briefing Josh Earnest seemed to double down on the rhetoric by tip-toeing around the term 'terrorist group." Earnest used phrases like "this description that you have put forward" and "designating them in a way that you have described." Earnest did finally say the Taliban "has resorted to terror tactics," but qualified that they have "principally been focused on Afghanistan."
Official: Gitmo prisoner traded for Bergdahl reaching out to Taliban. (Fox News) — One of the five Taliban fighters traded last year for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is trying to make contact with the Taliban once again, Fox News has learned. A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the former Guantanamo prisoner has been intercepted making telephone calls to the Taliban. The development comes amid rising concerns over former Guantanamo detainees returning to the battlefield, and over the nature of the Bergdahl-Taliban trade itself last year, which was negotiated with the involvement of the Qatari government. Despite the apparent outreach by one of the traded prisoners, all five of the so-called “Taliban 5” are still accounted for in Qatar, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News. "There are no indications that they are a risk right now,” another defense official said.
5am – E Leggett likely to propose tax increase to offset state cuts, sluggish revenue. (Washington Post) — Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett says residents can expect him to propose a significant property tax increase this year or next to make up for state funding cuts and revenue diminished by a still-sluggish recovery from the recession. Leggett (D) said in an interview that the county has done well to hold the line on property taxes since 2008, when he last proposed an increase beyond the rate of inflation. He said he will probably include a larger tax increase as part of the proposed fiscal 2016 budget he is scheduled to send to the County Council in March or in his 2017 spending plan. “Without help from the state and without the economy roaring back, at some point you have to face reality,” he said. Leggett said he will make a final decision after reviewing economic indicators, including income tax revenue projections from the state that are due in the next several weeks. The county faces a shortfall of about $200 million, a deficit that could deepen if revenue projections don’t improve. Also clouding the fiscal picture are budget cuts unveiled this month by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and potential revenue losses resulting from a tax case that is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.
6am – A/B/C Richard Sherman may have to choose between Super Bowl or birth of first child. (Washington Post) — Amid the silliness of Tuesday’s Super Bowl Media Day — Bill Belichick’s flip-flops, Marshawn Lynch’s non-answers, Rob Gronkowski’s erotic fan fiction, etc. — came some meaningful news. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and his girlfriend are expecting the birth of their first child, a son. And, I mean, expecting the birth sometime over the next week. A week that happens to include — hello — the Super Bowl. What if Sherman’s girlfriend goes into labor on Sunday? Sherman expressed confidence to ESPN that there would be no conflict. From that report: Sherman said Wednesday a recent visit to the doctor gave him faith his son will not arrive in the next few days. But just in case, Sherman said [girlfriend Ashley] Moss is in Arizona with Super Bowl XLIX around the corner. If she goes into labor before Sunday, Sherman said the plan is to have her give birth at a local hospital. But if his son decides it’s time to enter the world on Sunday, Sherman may be faced with a career-defining decision. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Sherman said. “We’re not thinking about the possibility.”
6am – D/E Lynch picks up GOP support for attorney general confirmation. (Associated Press) — WASHINGTON — Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch picked up her first Republican endorsement Thursday en route to likely confirmation as the first black woman in the nation’s top law enforcement job. “I believe she’s not only qualified but exceptionally well-qualified and a very good person, to boot,” Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, declared from the dais on the second day of Lynch’s confirmation hearing to replace Eric Holder. Two other committee Republicans, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona, also said they were likely to support her. What seemed to all but guarantee Lynch’s approval by the Judiciary Committee in coming weeks, since she needs only two Republican votes on the panel if all Democrats back her. From there, her nomination would move to the full Senate, where she also is likely to win approval. Lynch, 55, the top federal prosecutor since 2010 for parts of New York City and Long Island, promised senators a fresh start from Holder, who has clashed repeatedly with congressional Republicans during his six years in the job. Republicans deride him as a liberal firebrand and cheerleader for President Barack Obama, and can barely wait to be rid of him.
7am – A INTERVIEW: CULLY STIMSON – former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs and currently Manager, National Security Law Program and Senior Legal Fellow at The Heritage Foundation
- Taliban Are Not Terrorists, or So Says the White House
- Official: Gitmo prisoner traded for Bergdahl reaching out to Taliban
- Raúl Castro Demands Return Of Guantánamo Before Normalizing Ties With US
- W.H.: No, Castro, you can't have Guantanamo back. The White House Thursday dismissed Castro's demands. When asked whether the U.S. would actually return the Guantanamo base to Cuba, Press Secretary Josh Earnest responded with an abrupt "No." "The naval base is not something that we believe should be closed," he said, adding that the U.S. would keep the base even after the prison has been emptied.
7am – B Super Bowl News:
- NFL lays out how Super Bowl footballs will be inspected, guarded. (USA Today) — PHOENIX — During Super Bowl XLIX, the NFL will have to keep track of nearly five times more footballs than for a typical game — and that will include whether they are properly inflated. The league said there will be "added security," too. Amid a continuing investigation probing whether the New England Patriots used illegally deflated balls during the AFC Championship Game, the NFL held its first pre-Super Bowl officiating press conference Thursday. Ball inflation was a prime topic. Prior to other games, each team prepares and breaks in 12 footballs it will use that day. They are presented to officials two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff for inspection, including an air pressure test. For the Super Bowl, the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will each have 54 balls. "The thing with the Super Bowl is during the first half, we rotate footballs in as much as possible, because then those balls are used for charity and NFL auction," said Dean Blandino, the league's vice president of officiating.
- Annoying or adorable? ‘Xmas Jammies’ family is back with a viral Super Bowl-timed commercial. The Holderness family, stars of annoyingly catchy viral videos such as “Xmas Jammies” and “All About That Baste”, are back! This time, they’ve made a Super Bowl-themed clip for Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.
- Super Bowl Ad: SNICKERS® – “The Brady Bunch” – Snickers Super Bowl Ad Recasts ‘The Brady Bunch’ with Danny Trejo as Marcia.
- T-Mobile Super Bowl Commercial: Kim Kardashian’s ‘Data Stash.’
- Squarespace Super Bowl Ad Features Jeff Bridges. ‘I love listening to intriguing sounds when I drift off into my dreams’ – Now for the Super Bowl, website publishing platform Squarespace is launching an entire album created by the Academy Award-winning actor, specifically designed to help you relax and get some shut eye.
- BMW’s Super Bowl Commercial: Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel Flash Back to 1994. ‘Can you explain what “internet” is?’ The 60-second spot, "Newfangled Idea," begins in 1994 with a clip from Couric and Gumbel attempting to understand the Internet and email in an era when few foresaw how essential both would become to most peoples' everyday lives. The ad ends with Couric and Gumbel expressing similar confusion as they drive the i3 — an all-electric car that joined BMW's i8 coupe last year to fill out the automaker's growing family of plug-in electric cars.
- Katy Perry promises 'lions and sharks' for Super Bowl. Lenny Kravitz is joining Katy Perry for the Super Bowl halftime show. (USA Today) — Of course the first question for Katy Perry on the eve of her Super Bowl halftime performance was about DeflateGate. "I don't think I'm so much of an expert on the game of football, but I can assure everyone in here, nothing in my performance will be deflated," she said at a press conference on Thursday, deflecting any controversy with ease. Perry even got a few football-friendly digs in. "I'm just here so I don't get fined," she joked. The pop star went on to promise both "sharks" and "lions" during her "colorful" halftime show, as well as "appropriate sexiness." Lenny Kravitz will be joining her, Perry confirmed, along with another surprise guest. "I'm very excited about this guest," she said, hinting at a "throwback" choice. "It will be a real female-fun night," Perry added, promising that upon hearing the first chord of the collaboration, "jaws will drop, faces will melt." Twitter users immediately began speculating the surprise guest would be Madonna or Cher.
7am – C Snow News:
- New Jersey Went On A Porn Binge During Winter Storm Juno. When there comes a blizzard, New Jersey will milk the lizard. As snowstorm Juno rolled across the Northeast earlier this week, Web traffic on adult site PornHub increased more in New Jersey than in any other state in the area. The site's data analytics team said in a blog post that Web traffic in New Jersey, which wasn't actually hit that hard by the storm, shot up 26 percent higher than average on Tuesday, when many of the region's residents were stuck indoors. Just as an aside, New Jersey wasn't even hit that hard by the storm. Following closely are Connecticut and New York, each with traffic increasing on the site by 20 percent or more. New Jersey really shows its dominance when traffic increases are examined across different devices.
- John Kerry fined $50 for failing to shovel snow outside home. BOSTON (AP) — John Kerry has many titles — secretary of state, former senator, one-time Democratic candidate for president. The globe-spanning diplomat can add one more: snow shoveling scofflaw. After a blizzard dumped two feet of snow on his city this week, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh vowed to crack down on anyone who left the sidewalks in front of their homes and businesses buried in snow. He wasn’t kidding. On Thursday, officials tagged Kerry with a $50 fine at 9:45 a.m. for failing to clear the snow from the side of his Beacon Hill mansion.
7am – D/E UVA Frat Party Order: Sororities Don't Budge Amid Controversy. (NBC News) — The national heads of 16 sororities said Thursday they were not wavering from their request that members of chapters at the University of Virginia avoid fraternity parties associated with this weekend's big recruitment drive. They also declined a request from the student council to discuss the matter. "While we value the input our chapter leaders have to offer on this important and ongoing dialogue, our members' safety and well-being must remain our top priority. That is why we stand by the collective decision," the sorority leaders said in a joint statement.
'Punishing Us For Being Women': UVA Sorority Members Protest Frat Party Ban. (Bloomberg) — Sorority women at the University of Virginia were ordered to stay home on the biggest party night of the year to protect their “safety and well-being” — and they are furious about it. Members of the National Panhellenic Conference told 16 UVA sorority chapters last week not to participate in Boys’ Bid Night fraternity parties on Saturday. The revelry has led to allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking in the past. Women who break the prohibition may face sanctions. “They are treating us like children and punishing us for being women,” said Whitney Rosser, a senior from Lynchburg, Virginia, and a member of Alpha Phi. “We’re angry because we are being told we are not allowed to go out instead of addressing the deeper issue of why sexual assault happens.” The movement to prevent assault is now dividing women on college campuses. The sorority protest in Charlottesville evokes the late 1960s, when women battled college administrators for social and sexual freedom. The women’s rights movement of that time helped end strict dorm curfews and curbs on interaction with men imposed to protect women’s virtue. Students at UVA were placed at the center of a national debate about sexual assault and student drinking after a November Rolling Stone article that purported to detail the gang rape of a student at a fraternity house. The story was later discredited and the magazine apologized for it.
8am – A INTERVIEW – TREVOR MATICH – WMAL's football analyst — previewed the Super Bowl game this weekend.
8am – B/C Richard Sherman may have to choose between Super Bowl or birth of first child. (Washington Post) — Amid the silliness of Tuesday’s Super Bowl Media Day — Bill Belichick’s flip-flops, Marshawn Lynch’s non-answers, Rob Gronkowski’s erotic fan fiction, etc. — came some meaningful news. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and his girlfriend are expecting the birth of their first child, a son.
8am – D INTERVIEW — BRET BAIER – Anchor, Special Report, Fox News Channel, weekdays at 6 pm
- Lynch picks up GOP support for attorney general confirmation. Posted:
- Taliban Are Not Terrorists, or So Says the White House
- Official: Gitmo prisoner traded for Bergdahl reaching out to Taliban
- Super Bowl: Bret discussed who he thinks will win and what he would do if he were Richard Sherman.
MONDAY: Joe diGenova
