Delroy Burton, Susan Ferrechio, Amanda Carpenter, VA GOP Chairman John Whitbeck and Scottie Hughes joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith Hunter

5am – A/B/C GOP Debate Recap: Did the Media Blow It?

5am – D         DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW – DELROY BURTON – DC POLICE UNION

TOPIC: Is there a war on police? Has social media caused more scrutiny of everyday situations for cops? Is the FBI Director correct about a “Ferguson Effect” impacting police morale and the rise of crime?

5am – E         Loose military blimp lands in Pennsylvania. (CNN) A blimp associated with NORAD’s surveillance of the East Coast that became untethered from its mooring in Maryland is now on the ground and authorities have it secured, Pennsylvania State Police told CNN. According to NORAD, the blimp “is mostly deflated and located in the vicinity of Moreland Township, Pennsylvania. Local authorities are securing the area and there is a military recovery team en route.”

6am – A/B/C GOP Debate: Winners and Losers

6am – D         INTERVIEW — SUSAN FERRECHIO – Chief Congressional Correspondent for the Washington Examiner.

• Paul Ryan’s House Speaker Vote Today. Paul Ryan Nominated GOP Speaker Candidate, But Fails To Reach 218-Vote Threshold For Floor Vote: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) won the first round of votes for the job of House Speaker, but 45 Republican legislators voted against him. Those 45 members are enough to block him from getting the Speakership during the partisan floor vote on Thursday — if the 45 GOP legislators maintain their opposition, and if Ryan is not aided by a last-minute bloc of Democratic votes. @chadpergram: #BREAKING GOP taps Ryan for Spkr but he only gets 200 votes. Needs 218 on flr tomorrow to win. Webster: 43. McCarthy:1. Blackburn: 1
• Boehner clearing the deck: The House approves a two-year, bipartisan budget deal. Washington (CNN)The House of Representatives voted 266-167 Wednesday to approve a budget deal that raises the nation’s debt ceiling through March 2017, potentially avoiding a fiscal crisis that could have ensued if the nation defaulted on its loans.

6am – E         WiFi in Schools:

• Students Protest After APS Disables Wi-Fi For Student-Owned Devices. (ARLNow) — Apple Macbook Air laptop temporary change in Arlington Public Schools’ Wi-Fi policy has some students steamed. APS says it has disabled wireless internet access for student-owned devices during school hours, due to excessive web traffic on APS’ network — mostly from smartphones. “Over the past two years APS has seen a massive increase in the use of mobile technologies,” said Linda Erdos, Assistant Superintendent for School and Community Relations. “Staff and students at some schools are increasingly wanting to connect personal cell phones or other mobile devices to the APS Wi-Fi network. As a result, there have been periods where the demand for access to the network has exceeded the APS capacity, resulting in slow internet performance for all users, particularly for classroom use.”
• Montgomery Co. parents concerned about wireless routers in school. POTOMAC, Md. (WUSA9) — Some Montgomery County parents are worried about their children and exposure to radiation from wireless internet routers in schools. At certain doses, microwave radiation, the type emitted from wireless technology, can be harmful. Wireless routers are installed in ceilings of Montgomery County Public Schools classrooms. The numbers of routers in a given school can vary, but they range from a couple dozen routers to 100. “These are not transmitters that would be in your home. It’s much stronger. it can handle up to 200 laptops,” Laura Simon, a parent said. Several parents meet Tuesday night at Bells Mills Elementary to discuss their concerns about the routers. Some parents want to go back to hardwired systems. “You have so many streams of radiation going on at the same time. So, it’s this classroom and the next one and the next one and sometimes they’re in the hallways and the cafeteria and the media centers, Simon said. Montgomery County Public Schools told WUSA9 the parents are showing a “lack of understanding of how cell towers and WiFi hotspots work” and the school system “will continue to monitor and follow the credible findings and recommendations of the FCC, the World Health Organization.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW — AMANDA CARPENTER – CNN CONTRIBUTOR and writer at Conservative Review, and Former Communications Director to Senator Ted Cruz – analyzed the GOP debate last night.

7am – B         Sports News:

• Royals cruise to 7-1 win over Mets in World Series Game 2. (USA Today) — KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Breaking down Game 2 of the World Series from Kauffman Stadium between the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets: The final: The relentless Royals offense put together a pair of big innings to turn a close game into a rout and take the first two games of the series at home. Seven of the nine Kansas City starters had at least one hit. Meanwhile, starter Johnny Cueto held the Mets to a run on two hits through nine innings to earn the win.
• Derek Jeter set to marry Hannah Davis. (NY Daily News) — Derek Jeter’s days as a player are over in more ways than one, according to sources close to super model Hannah Davis. Jeter and Davis are finally ready to tie the knot after three years together, and if The Captain hasn’t yet set a date, that’ll be the next step. “She already has the ring,” we’re told. “The family is very happy because they really like him.”
• Washington Nationals set to name new manager. (WTOP) — WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals are set to name Bud Black their new manager, according to multiple sources. The development was first reported by The Washington Post’s James Wagner. An official announcement will likely not come until after the World Series. Black parted ways with the San Diego Padres in June after managing the team for parts of nine seasons. He was voted NL Manager of the Year in 2010. Black also won a World Series as a player for Kansas City in 1985, and as a coach in 2002 in Anaheim.
• Wizards hold off Magic, 88-87, in an opener not lacking for drama. ORLANDO — The ball bounced on the rim seven times, glanced off the backboard and bounced on the orange metal six more times as the seconds ticked off the Washington Wizards’ 88-87 triumph. The anticipation from sold-out Amway Center escalated as the ball hung on the rim and a chance to keep a fresh season unblemished hung in the balance.

7am – C         D.C. Police Officer Challenges Teen to Dance-Off. A D.C. police officer challenged a teenage girl to a dance-off, holding her own as the two did the “Nae Nae” dance. A female officer arrived to break up a fight in a park on K Street SW Monday afternoon when she saw 17-year-old Aaliya Taylor dancing to the popular Silentó song “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” Aaliya said. The girl said she usually fears officers and was surprised by what the officer said. “As I’m stepping off, I started to dance and then the cop was like, ‘I could do better,’ and I was like, ‘OK, you want to challenge me?'” the senior at Ballou High School said. “I was in shock.” The officer — who the Metropolitan Police Department declined to name — matched the girl step for step as onlookers laughed and cheered.

7am – D/E     GOP Debate Recap: Did the Media Blow It? Should We Get Different Moderators?

8am – A         INTERVIEW — VIRGINIA GOP CHAIRMAN JOHN WHITBECK

• VA SENATE: There is a tough race between Manassas Mayor Harry J. “Hal” Parrish II and Democrat Jeremy McPike — they are vying for Virginia state Senate seat of Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William). Virginia, control of the state Senate hinges on a few races, including a contest pitting Parrish against Democrat Jeremy McPike for the seat retiring Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William) has held for 40 years.
• McAuliffe calls Republican Senate candidate a liar over I-66 toll proposal
• Gun-safety group backed by Michael Bloomberg makes $1.5M ad buy in another Va. Senate race

8am – B         Pumpkin News:

• Energy Department smashes pumpkins for causing climate change. (Washington Times) — How scary are your jack-o’-lanterns? Scarier than you think, according to the Energy Department, which claims the holiday squash is responsible for unleashing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Most of the 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins produced in the U.S. end up in the trash, says the Energy Department’s website, becoming part of the “more than 254 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) produced in the United States every year.” Municipal solid waste decomposes into methane, “a harmful greenhouse gas that plays a part in climate change, with more than 20 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide,” Energy says.
• Most Halloween injuries requiring an ER visit involve pumpkin-carving. Cuts, falls and other injuries. (USA Today) – Thousands of people are injured carving pumpkins each year, says the Consumer Product Safety Commission. About 4,400 people in the United States visited emergency rooms in 2013 for Halloween-related injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. More than half were adults. The most common mishaps, accounting for 56% of cases: pumpkin carving injuries. “It’s very common to see finger and hand injuries,” after carving slip-ups, says Ryan Stanton, an emergency physician in Lexington, Ky. People usually slice into the hand holding the slippery gourd, he says. One tip for pumpkin artists: Use tools designed for the job, rather than ordinary kitchen knives. Tests by Consumer Reports and by medical researchers have found that special pumpkin-carving tools sold online and in many stores are safer, partly because they are smaller and easier to control. Falls — often related to tripping over costumes or putting up decorations — are the next most common cause of injury.

8am – C         Loose military blimp lands in Pennsylvania. (CNN) A blimp associated with NORAD’s surveillance of the East Coast that became untethered from its mooring in Maryland is now on the ground and authorities have it secured, Pennsylvania State Police told CNN. According to NORAD, the blimp “is mostly deflated and located in the vicinity of Moreland Township, Pennsylvania. Local authorities are securing the area and there is a military recovery team en route.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – SCOTTIE HUGHES – News Director, Tea Party News Network – analyzed the GOP debate from Colorado.

8am – E         GOP Debate Highlights

TOMORROW: Sharyl Attkisson, Washingtonian’s Matt Blit, Reggie Littlejohn & Politico’s Alex Eisenstadt