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Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith Hunter

5am – A         DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW — U.S. SENATOR JAMES LANKFORD – R-OKLAHOMA – discussed Senate Democrats Blocking 20-Week Abortion Ban Bill.

5am – B/C     Vice President Joe Biden believes life begins “at the moment of conception” but wouldn’t IMPOSE the rigid view.

5am – D         HILLARY NEWS:

• Des Moines Register Interview: Clinton weighed in on White House transparency, private email server
• Hillary Opposes Keystone Pipeline

5am – E         Army rejects appeal from soldier discharged after confronting accused Afghan rapist. EXCLUSIVE: Even as the U.S. military denies reports that American troops were told to ignore Afghan child abusers, an 11-year Green Beret who was ordered discharged after he confronted an alleged rapist was informed Tuesday that the Army has denied his appeal. Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland earlier this year was ordered discharged by Nov. 1. He has been fighting to stay in, but in an initial decision, the U.S. Army Human Resources Command told Martland that his appeal “does not meet the criteria” for an appeal. “Consequently, your request for an appeal and continued service is disapproved,” the office wrote in a memo to Martland.

6am – A/B     What is your commuting strategy for handling the Pope visit?

6am – C         METRO NEWS:

• Service restored on Metro’s Green, Yellow lines after power loss. WASHINGTON — Metro says service has been fully restored after a power loss shut down the Green and Yellow lines between U Street and Fort Totten on Tuesday night. Power to the third rail was lost around 6:30 p.m., causing a train to stop about 100 feet from the platform of the Georgia Avenue/Petworth station, says Metro Spokesman Dan Stessel. Around 10:30 p.m., Metro tweeted that power had been restored, allowing crews to move the disabled equipment. Shuttle buses were offering transportation during the service suspension.
• Petition asks Pope Francis to bless Metro while in D.C. WASHINGTON — It’s probably too easy to dump on Metro these days. The train is always besieged with delays, and the agency stays in the news for all the wrong reasons. Maybe some divine intervention could help? With Pope Francis coming to the D.C. area Tuesday afternoon, there’s a Change.org petition asking the Catholic leader to bless the local Metro system “so it actually works.” “At this point I’m willing to try anything,” wrote Noah Rosenheck, who launched the document. “All of D.C. would be grateful if you could find the time to bless it during your upcoming stay. Maybe a papal blessing is just what it needs.” In an interview Tuesday, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel told WTOP that the agency is open to the pope’s prayers.

6am – D/E     Alexandria police ticket bicyclist $91 for stop sign violation. ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Alexandria police are stepping up efforts to stop bicyclists who fail to follow traffic laws. Bicyclist Eric Margry was recently ticketed by police for not stopping at a stop sign. He says he slowed down and checked to make sure it was safe before turning at an intersection, but he admits that he did not come to a complete stop. Police issued him a $91 ticket, the same penalty for drivers. “The fine, I think the punishment doesn’t really fit the crime. Obviously, every bicyclist slows down and looks at the intersection before they go through. Otherwise, they’re gonna get run over, and that’s not a good solution. That’s definitely a punishment,” said Margry. Police say the $91 punishment is determined by the state, not by police. They say more residents are complaining about out-of-control bikers not stopping at signs and running red lights. “I’ve lived here for 17 years. I obviously ride my bicycle, but I’ve watched unlawful, reckless and rude bikers come through here for 17 years. I’ve been flipped the bird. I’ve been cursed at as a pedestrian, and the people here have had enough of it,” said resident Hal Hardaway. A spokeswoman for Alexandria police says police warned about 300 bikers and issued 24 tickets over the past week.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – KATE BRYAN – Associate, Catholic Voices

ABOUT CATHOLIC VOICES: The mission of Catholic Voices USA is to put the Church’s case in the public square. We speak as Catholics who know and love the Church and have the authority of direct lived experience. We’re media-friendly and studio-ready, and offer an authoritative (but not official) group of articulate speakers who make the Catholic case in interviews and debates — clearly, reasonably, and compellingly. We offer a new apologetics for the new evangelization.

7am – B        AP Drops Terms ‘Skeptic,’ ‘Denier’ in Relation to Climate Change. The Associated Press announced on Tuesday it will no longer use the terms “skeptic” or “denier” in relation to people who don’t believe human activities are causing changes to the global climate. The new terms will be “climate change doubters” or “those who reject mainstream climate science,” according to a post on the AP’s blog. The reason for the changes, writes AP Vice President and Director of Media Relations Paul Colford, is that scientific skeptics are tired of their title being usurped – and those who question human-caused global warming don’t like the term “denier.”

7am – C        Costco shopper, 78, punched in fight over taking too many Nutella waffle samples, police say. A Burbank man was charged Tuesday with punching a 78-year-old Costco shopper who confronted him about taking too many Nutella waffles from a sample cart, authorities said. Derrick Gharabighi, 24, was at the warehouse store in Burbank on Sunday when he walked over to the Nutella sample station. As the elderly shopper reached out to grab one, Gharabighi snatched all the Nutella samples, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. “The victim told Mr. Gharabighi that he wanted a sample and he shouldn’t take so many,” Burbank police Sgt. Claudio Losacco said. That’s when Gharabighi reportedly punched the man in the face. The man was hospitalized with a one-inch cut and swelling above his left eye.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst @KTMcFarland – discussed Russian military in Syria and thoughts on the Pope visit.

7am – E         Trump News:

• Trump appears on Colbert show.
• Donald Trump’s Fox feud continues: GOPer calls Megyn Kelly a ‘lightweight’
• Donald Trump
• Bummed About Tony Romo … But STOKED for Brady!

8am – A/B/C Pope Francis Opts for a More Modest Fiat After Arriving in US. WASHINGTON —Pope Francis was hard to spot in the motorcade of more than 20 armed SUVs and police cars that motored into the nation’s capital late Tuesday. The pontiff ditched the fancy wheels in favor of a much more modest ride: a Fiat. After he stepped off his plane at Andrews Air Force Base in neighboring Maryland, Francis was driven into town in the back of a tiny, charcoal gray Fiat 500L. The four-door model was sandwiched between two enormous black SUVs in the motorcade. A half-hour or so later, the Italian-made car could be spotted rounding the corner at the Apostolic Nunciature, the Vatican’s diplomatic mission, where Francis was spending the night. The small Vatican flag adorning the car did little to make it stand out from the flashing police cars and other vehicles accompanying him. Francis has made a point of using particularly modest cars, part of his emphasis on simplicity, conservatism and rejection of today’s consumerist lifestyle. He uses a blue Ford Focus to get around the Vatican, and during his visit to South Korea he used a Kia. Not that the Fiat was some little junker. Erik Nyhuis, sales manager at Safford Fiat in Vienna, Virginia, the only local dealer, said the 500L retails from $19,000 to the “high 20s” in the United States.

8am – D         Vice President Joe Biden believes life begins “at the moment of conception” but wouldn’t IMPOSE the rigid view.

8am – E         Entertainment News:

• Yogi Berra, Hall of Famer and Yankees great, dies at 90. Yogi Berra’s baseball exploits as a New York Yankees catching great spoke for themselves. He spoke for himself in a charmingly fractured way that introduced “Yogi-isms” such as “It’s déjà vu all over again” into the American lexicon. The Hall of Famer died at the of 90 on Tuesday evening, the Yogi Berra Museum announced. He undoubtedly would be reminding people of what he once said: “You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours.”
• Federal judge rules ‘Happy Birthday’ song in public domain. LOS ANGELES (AP) — The music publishing company that has been collecting royalties on the song “Happy Birthday To You” for years does not hold a valid copyright on the lyrics to the tune that is one of the mostly widely sung in the world, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge George H. King determined the song’s original copyright, obtained by the Clayton F. Summy Co. from the song’s writers, only covered specific piano arrangements of the song and not its lyrics. The basic tune of the song, derived from another popular children’s song, “Good Morning to All,” has long been in the public domain.