Dan Bongino, Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Jeff Schapiro, KT McFarland and Rep. Mac Thornberry joined WMAL on Wednesday.
Listen here to Wednesday’s show!
Mornings on the Mall
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor
Executive Producer: Heather Smith
5am – A DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW – DAN BONGINO – former Secret Service agent and author of “Inside the Bubble” – analyzed the bomb threats.
5am – B/C Pair of threats close parts of White House, Congress hearing – Washington (CNN) A series of security threats closed portions of the White House and Capitol Hill on Tuesday. In the middle of White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest’s daily briefing, officials told all reporters to evacuate the briefing room. The North Lawn of the White House was also cleared. The Secret Service said a bomb threat had been called in to the DC Metropolitan Police Department targeting the briefing room specifically. The evacuation at the White House came just hours after U.S. Capitol Police received a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of a hearing on the TSA in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. A Senate aide who was briefed by police confirmed to CNN that the first bomb threat was made targeting a specific location, which is what caused the USCP to take the threat more seriously. The aide said the caller described a device that had been placed in the Homeland Security Committee offices on the third floor of the Dirksen building. Authorities say it is still unclear if this call was related to the evacuation that occurred later in the afternoon at the White House. Earnest said President Barack Obama, who was in the Oval Office at the time, was not moved during the evacuation. First lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia, who were in the residence at the time, also were not moved.
5am – D Obama: Obamacare “Rugged Individualism That Defines America.” On Tuesday President Obama addressed the Catholic Health Association on health care in America and Obamacare. PRESIDENT OBAMA: “The rugged individualism that defines America has always been bound by a set of shared values; an enduring sense that we are in this together. That America is not a place where we simply ignore the poor or turn away from the sick. It’s a place sustained by the idea that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper. That we have an obligation to put ourselves in our neighbor’s shoes, and to see the common humanity in each other. So after nearly a century of talk, after decades of trying, after a year of sustained debate, we finally made health care reform a reality for “America.
5am – E Baltimore prosecutor asked police to target area where Freddie Gray was arrested. (Baltimore Sun) — Marilyn Mosby asked police to target corner where Freddie Gray ran. About three weeks before Freddie Gray was chased from a West Baltimore corner by three Baltimore police officers — the start of a fatal encounter — the office of prosecutor Marilyn Mosby asked police to target the intersection with “enhanced” drug enforcement efforts, court documents show. “State’s Attorney Mosby asked me to look into community concerns regarding drug dealing in the area of North Ave and Mount St,” Joshua Rosenblatt, division chief of Mosby’s Crime Strategies Unit, wrote in a March 17 email to a Western District police commander. The email was disclosed for the first time Tuesday in a motion filed in Baltimore Circuit Court by defense attorneys for the six officers being prosecuted in Gray’s arrest and death. The attorneys said Mosby’s involvement in the police initiative means that she should be removed from the case.
6am – A/B/C Rubio’s ‘luxury speedboat’ is a fishing boat. By DYLAN BYERS, HADAS GOLD and MARC CAPUTO – 6/9/15 2:31 PM EDT – In an effort to showcase Sen. Marco Rubio’s history of financial struggles, The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Florida Republican had spent “$80,000 for a luxury speedboat” even as he faced outstanding debts. But while Rubio did indeed spend $80,000 on a boat, the vessel in question is not the glamorous “luxury speedboat” the Times article portrayed. It is, in fact, an offshore fishing boat. On Tuesday, Rubio spokesperson Alex Conant sent POLITICO a link to a website showing the make and model of the boat Rubio owns: an EdgeWater 245CC Deep-V Center Console. The manufacturer, Edgewater, notes that the boat is perfect for “safety-minded family boaters and avid anglers.” In a place like Miami, home to billionaires and stars who have multimillion-dollar yachts, an “$80,000 luxury boat” can seem like a contradiction.
6am – D Homer And Marge Simpson To ‘Legally Separate’ In September Episode Of ‘The Simpsons.’ (Huffington Post) — There’s trouble in Springfield. “Simpsons” producer Al Jean says Homer and Marge Simpson, the main characters of the long-running animated series, will “legally separate” in the upcoming season premiere in September. “In the premiere, it’s discovered after all the years Homer has narcolepsy and it’s an incredible strain on the marriage,” Jean told Variety. “Homer and Marge legally separate, and Homer falls in love with his pharmacist, who’s voiced by Lena Dunham. We’ll have cameos from the other women from ‘Girls.’” Jean didn’t say how long the separation would last, but given the show’s history, it’s a safe bet the pair will be reunited by the end of the episode. The Simpsons’ marital woes were a topic of discussion on “The View” on Tuesday, as Whoopi Goldberg feigned outrage over the news. “What the hell?” she said. “Homer, what about a sister? In the time that I’ve seen you, I’ve never seen you with a black woman. Or maybe Marge is just a light-skinned sister and they haven’t said it. I don’t know.”
6am – E DoJ Subpoenas Libertarian Website For Anonymous Commenters’ Identities. (Daily Caller) — The Department of Justice has issued a subpoena ordering libertarian website Reason.com to hand over information about their anonymous commenters, accusing those users of “threatening” a federal judge. The grand jury subpeona, issued by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, orders Reason to turn over the names, IP addresses, physical addresses, emails, billing information and telephone numbers of six anonymous commenters. The government’s request also asks Reason to “voluntarily refrain” from disclosing the existence of the grand jury investigation. The offending comments are from a Nick Gillespie article on the sentencing of Ross Ulbricht, founder of the online black market website Silk Road, to life in prison. A number of the supportive commentators vented their anger at sentencing Judge Katherine Forrest, with some of the more colorful commentators wishing she’d meet an unfortunate demise by way of woodchipper. Private attorney Ken White, proprietor of the popular legal blog Popehat, first reported on the charges. White notes that the “threats” contained in the comments are almost certainly hyperbolic, and don’t amount to actually prosecutable threats.
7am – A INTERVIEW — JEFF SCHAPIRO – political reporter and columnist for The Richmond Times-Dispatch – recapped Virginia primary.
7am – B/C Bachelor Lindsey Graham promises a ‘rotating first lady.‘ (Daily Mail) — Who would be his first lady? Thinking it over, the Republican senator told Daily Mail Online: ‘Well, I’ve got a sister, she could play that role if necessary.’ Chuckling, he added: ‘I’ve got a lot of friends. We’ll have a rotating first lady.’ His sister, Darline Graham Nordone, lives in their native state of South Carolina with her husband, Larry, and her two daughters, one from previous a marriage who is in college, and another who is in elementary school. Her obligations to her immediate family would seemingly prevent her from Washington, D.C. to serve as the White House’s full-time hostess, leading Graham to make a crack about a ‘rotating first lady.’ Just two U.S. presidents were unmarried when they took office, James Buchanan and Grover Cleveland. And Cleveland later married, while in office.
7am – D INTERVIEW — KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst
- Donald Rumsfeld: George W. Bush Was ‘Unrealistic’ About Democracy In Iraq. More than a decade after the Bush administration invaded Iraq in 2003, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that he never bought into the idea of democratizing the country. The man who once talked about the breakdown of Iraqi society by saying “stuff happens” and “freedom is untidy” told the Times of London on Friday that he didn’t agree with President George W. Bush about spreading democracy in the Middle East. “The idea that we could fashion a democracy in Iraq seemed to me unrealistic. I was concerned about it when I first heard those words,” Rumsfeld told the newspaper. “I’m not one who thinks that our particular template of democracy is appropriate for other countries at every moment of their histories,” he added.This, of course, was the official policy of the administration he served. “A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions,” President Bush said in a 2003 speech.
- Obama: ‘We don’t yet have a complete strategy’ against ISIS
- ISIS threatens to take Baghdad. ISIS Stages Attacks in Iraq and Libya, Despite U.S. Airstrikes. (NY Times) – CAIRO — Islamic State militants staged attacks near Baghdad and the Libyan city of Surt on Tuesday, underscoring the group’s persistent strength on both fronts despite a monthslong American-led air campaign against it in Syria and Iraq. In Libya, the Islamic State captured a critical power plant along the coastal road westward from its stronghold in Surt toward Misurata, a commercial center whose powerful militias are the backbone of a coalition that controls the capital, Tripoli. The loss was the second significant retreat in less than two weeks by the Misuratan militia, which the provisional government in Tripoli had originally sent to expel the Islamic State from Surt. In Iraq, two gunmen wearing suicide vests attacked a local council building in Amariya al Falluja, a bold incursion into the center of a city about 37 miles southwest of Baghdad. The city is one of the last bastions of government control in Anbar Province after Islamic State militants captured the major city of Ramadi three weeks ago, and Iraqi troops have been battling against the militants on the outskirts of Amariya al Falluja for months. The extremist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is still gaining ground in both countries by filling vacuums created by political deadlock.
- Whistleblowers reveals TSA checkpoint failures. The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the leak of a classified report on airport-checkpoint failures, which concluded that TSA members failed to detect weapons and phony bombs smuggled in my undercover agents more than 95 percent of the time. (WUSA9)
7am – E Critter News:
- Rabid raccoon attacks Fairfax County man. (WTOP) — WASHINGTON — Residents of a Fairfax County neighborhood are being warned after a rabid raccoon attacked a man Sunday. The raccoon bit the man in the 5300 block of Kings Park Drive causing a cut that was almost a foot long. Animal control was called to the scene and the animal was shot when it charged an officer. Testing confirmed it had rabies. The man who was attacked was treated and is taking medication. In a news release, the Fairfax County Police Department said there have been 21 cases of rabies in 2015. Last year, there were 50. The most common animals are raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes. Fewer than 10 percent of rabies cases involve domestic animals.
- BREAKING: The Cat Cafe Will Open On June 20. (DCist) — You read it right, folks: Crumbs & Whiskers—D.C.’s first Cat Cafe—is opening on June 20. In a release, founder Kanchan Singh says that the cafe will officially open on Saturday, June 20 in Georgetown (3211 O Street NW). Like, for real. In anticipation of the cafe for cat enthusiasts’ opening, there will be special events happening all week. From June 15-18, they’ll be throwing “backstage parties for select Kickstarter backers as well as our social media contest winners” (which she says there will be a ton of chances to win). June 19 will be the official launch party, which is already sold out, but Singh says that there will be so many photos and videos on their social media accounts that “you’re pretty much going to feel like you are at the party.” Phew. But don’t start lining up for that June 20 opening yet, according to the release, you’ve got to schedule a visit to the cafe, which will go live on June 15. Cat Cafe. What a time to be alive.
8am – A/B/C Texas pool party chaos: ‘Out of control’ police officer resigns. (CNN) Just days after a video that went viral online showed him yanking a 14-year-old bikini-clad girl to the ground and kneeling on her back, Eric Casebolt has resigned from his post as a corporal for the Police Department in McKinney, Texas. The video posted to YouTube showing the police response to reports of fighting at a pool party sparked swift allegations of racism. Critics decried the white officer for cursing at several black teenagers, slamming the girl to the ground and unholstering his gun. Protesters marched Monday over the incident in the Dallas suburb. Outraged parents demanded the officer’s firing. At a press conference Tuesday announcing Casebolt’s resignation, the city’s police chief called his actions in the video indefensible. “Our policies, our training, our practice, do not support his actions,” Police Chief Greg Conley said. “He came into the call out of control, and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident.” Officials previously had said Casebolt was on administrative leave as police investigated what happened. Now that he has decided to resign, the internal affairs investigation is closed, and it’s too soon to say whether he’ll face charges over what happened, Conley told reporters. “We’re continuing an investigation. We are continuing looking into all the allegations that are being presented to us, and any part of a criminal investigation regarding anyone will take a matter of time for us to work through all those allegations and those people who have come forward to us to complain,” he said. Casebolt’s attorney has not responded to requests for comment.
8am – D INTERVIEW – REP. MAC THORNBERRY – CHAIRMAN, HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
- BIO: Rep. Mac Thornberry serves the 13th District of TX, which spans from Amarillo to Wichita Falls & is larger than 13 states. H has served since 1995, when the House seated its first Republican majority in forty years.
- Reid: troop funding bill “really is…a waste of time.” (Legal Insurrection) — Democrats are playing politics with defense funding, and today, the game turned ugly. Since Republicans seized the majority in 2014, Democratic leadership has engaged in a revolt not against specific policies, but against productivity in general. They put the NDAA on their chopping block. Defense funding is chum in the water for Democrats, who whose minority status has forced a tactical shift from all-out bullying via the calendar, to simply threatening to hold good legislation hostage. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said today that, although he hasn’t forced the issue yet, Dems may still filibuster defense spending unless Republicans agree to pad the already-passed House version of the bill with cash for other federal agencies.
