Mornings on the Mall 04.04.16

Steve Hayes, Susan Kosisky and Joe diGenova joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, April 4, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C Former Defense secretary: Obama ‘double-crossed’ me. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he felt President Obama “double-crossed” him during his tenure over budget cuts to the Pentagon. In a Fox News report Friday that explored the president’s approach to the military, Gates said Obama had promised him that there wouldn’t be any “significant changes” in the defense budget for a while. When asked by Fox whether Obama kept to his word, Gates replied, “Well I think that began to fray. ‘Fray’ may be too gentle a word.” According to the report, Gates was told to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the defense budget after already having slashed it. “I guess I’d have to say I felt double-crossed,” Gates said. “After all those years in Washington, I was naïve.” The former defense secretary added that he advised Obama to slow the cuts to the military because it would endanger U.S. troops.

5am – D Clinton: ‘Unborn person’ doesn’t have constitutional rights. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said during an interview Sunday that an “unborn person” does not have rights when asked about her abortion stance and whether she believes an “unborn child” has constitutional protections. “Well, under our laws currently, that is not something that exists,” Clinton said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights. Now, that doesn’t mean that we don’t do everything we possibly can in the vast majority of instances to, you know, help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy, to have appropriate medical support. “It doesn’t mean that you don’t do everything possible to try to fulfill your obligations. But it does not include sacrificing the woman’s right to make decisions,” Clinton explained.

5am – E CRASHES:

• Amtrak services to resume Monday after accident. CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on an Amtrak derailment in Chester, Pennsylvania. (all times local): Amtrak says it will operate regularly scheduled trains on Monday after a deadly derailment outside Philadelphia disrupted service. Amtrak says there may be some delays, however, on Acela Express, Northeast Regional and other services between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. Train 89 was heading from New York to Savannah, Georgia, at about 8 a.m. Sunday when it hit heavy equipment on the track track in Chester, knocking the lead engine off the rails. Officials say two Amtrak workers were killed and more than 30 passengers were sent to hospitals with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.

• Driver survives cliff crash, gets struck by bus. MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles County authorities say a driver who managed to get out of his SUV after it nearly went over a cliff was then struck by a passing bus in Malibu. Sheriff’s officials say the man was conscious and breathing when he was rushed to a hospital following the two crashes Saturday. Investigators say the man lost control of his SUV, which slammed into a guardrail and hung precariously over the side of the cliff. Officials say the man was disoriented and when he got out of the vehicle he stepped into lanes of traffic and was struck by a tour bus.
• At least 13 injured after multi-car crash on I-270. WASHINGTON– At least 13 people, including some children, were injured in a multi-car crash on Northbound I-270 on Sunday night. Montgomery County Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer says one person had to be rescued from inside one of the five or six vehicles involved in the crash. The person who was trapped has serious but non-life-threatening injuries. At least 12 others, including six children, were also injured. Piringer says no one has life-threatening injuries. Eight people, four children and four adults, have been taken to the hospital.

6am – A/B/C Trump plans to choose experienced politician for VP. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said he is “95 percent” sure he would pick a veteran politician for vice president if elected. He said he would choose “somebody that can walk into the Senate and who’s been friendly with these guys for 25 years, and people for 25 years and can get things done” in an extensive interview with The Washington Post published Saturday. “So I would 95 percent see myself picking a political person, as opposed to somebody from the outside,” he said.

6am – D Chihuahua leads police on chase across Bay Bridge. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Chihuahua is in animal custody after leading police on a chase across the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. The California Highway Patrol tweeted the small black dog “led us on quite a chase” Sunday and posted a video of it running furiously on the upper level of the bridge while being trailed by a motorcycle officer. After it was captured, the Chihuahua was taken to a San Francisco animal shelter where staff members named it Ponch, after the CHP Officer Frank Poncherello played by Erik Estrada in the TV series “CHiPs.” A spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Animal Care and Control said the dog wore a tag decorated with a human skull, but it had no identification. Deb Campbell said the dog was recovering from its misadventure.

7am – A INTERVIEW — JOE DIGENOVA – LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY TO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – discussed the latest on Clinton’s email server scandal.

7am – B 2016 News:

• Donald Trump’s Unusual Plan to Lower the National Debt: Sell Off Government Assets. As president, Donald Trump would sell off $16 trillion worth of U.S. government assets in order to fulfill his pledge to eliminate the national debt in eight years, senior adviser with the campaign Barry Bennett said. “The United States government owns more real estate than anybody else, more land than anybody else, more energy than anybody else,” Bennett told Chris Jansing Sunday on MSNBC. “We can get rid of government buildings we’re not using, we can extract the energy from government lands, we can do all kinds of things to extract value from the assets that we hold.” In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Trump said he would get rid of the $19 trillion national debt “over a period of eight years.” The article noted that most economists would consider Trump’s proposal impossible, as it could require slashing the annual federal budget by more than half.

• Trump to NYT on Heidi Cruz retweet: ‘Yeah, it was a mistake’ Washington (CNN)Donald Trump admitted to The New York Times on Saturday that retweeting an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz was a mistake and that he would not do it again if given the opportunity. “Yeah, it was a mistake,” he told columnist Maureen Dowd. “If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have sent it.” Dowd was asking about an incident last month in which Trump retweeted a picture of Cruz, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s wife, during a spat involving a nude photo of Trump’s wife, Melania, that was circulated by an anti-Trump super PAC.
• Clinton has proposed April 4, 14 or 15. Sanders wants April 10, 11, 12 or 13. Both say they’re willing to debate again before NY primary

7am – C Two Arrested After Dispute Over Crab Legs Turns Violent. A 21-year-old man was punched in the face and lost a tooth in the dispute. Police in Connecticut arrested two people after an argument at Royal Buffet got out of hand Saturday night. Manchester police say they were called to 410 West Middle Turnpike for a dispute that started verbally over crab legs at the buffet table and escalated into a physical confrontation. During the scuffle, a 21-year-old man was punched in the face and lost a tooth. That man’s mother jumped in and deployed pepper spray at her son’s attackers. Her actions were in self-defense and she is not facing any charges, according to police. Police arrested two people, identified as Clifford Knight, 45, and Latoya Knight, 38, both of Windsor. Clifford Knight is charged with third-degree assault and disorder conduct. Latoya Knight is charged with disorderly conduct and threatening. Police say the suspects are husband and wife. Clifford Knight was released on a $5,000 non-surety bond, and Lataya Knight was released on a $2,500 non-surety bond. They are both expected in court on April 14.

7am – D NATS OPENING DAY:

• Nationals finalize opening day roster, release Sean Burnett and Reed Johnson. The Nationals finalized their opening day roster Sunday morning, and it includes 12 pitchers, 13 position players and no surprises. Chris Heisey and Matt Belisle are the two non-roster spring training invitees to make the team. No players with rookie status are on the opening day roster for the first time since 2013.
• MLB average salary $4.4M after 4.4 pct rise. NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball’s average salary rose 4.4 percent to $4.38 million on opening day, according to a study of contract terms by The Associated Press, and the Los Angeles Dodgers topped spending for the third straight season. The Chicago Cubs boosted payroll by $51 million, adding Jason Heyward, John Lackey and Ben Zobrist in an effort to win their first title since 1908.
• Apple upgrades Siri to be smarter about baseball, deeper historical knowledge spanning 28 leagues. Apple doesn’t normally improve the capabilities of Siri outside of a major operating system update, but it has made an exception this time around for baseball. Apple has dramatically improved the knowledge base Siri can draw from for Siri, allowing the voice-activated personal assistant to answer a wider range of questions about the sport. Via The Verge, Siri now covers 28 leagues, not just Major League Baseball, too.

7am – E Minimum Wage News:

• Montgomery County to consider raising minimum wage to $15. ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A Montgomery County official says he plans to introduce legislation to raise the county’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. County Council member Marc Elrich tells The Washington Post that he expects to introduce the bill as early as next week. The county agreed in 2013 to collaborate with Prince George’s County and Washington in gradually raising the minimum to $11.50 by 2017. Montgomery County’s current minimum wage is $9.55. Washington Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced her proposal for a $15 minimum wage at her State of the District address March 22. Prince George’s County Council Chairman Derrick Leon Davis says it is unlikely that his jurisdiction will join the latest effort. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has not changed since 2009.
• Gov. Brown will sign a historic $15/hr minimum wage bill on Mon. New York, California Move Closer to $15-an-Hour Minimum Wage. (Reuters) — Governor Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders reached a deal on Thursday to raise New York state’s minimum wage towards $15 per hour, but fell short of a uniform state-wide increase. Also on Thursday, a plan to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 cleared its toughest legislative hurdle, putting the state on track to become the first in the nation to commit to such a large pay hike for the working poor. The measure, incorporating a deal Governor Jerry Brown reached with labor leaders and fellow Democrats in the Legislature, was approved in the state Assembly, where it faced opposition from Republicans and some moderate Democrats, and is expected to go before the more liberal state Senate as soon as Thursday afternoon.

8am – A INTERVIEW — STEVE HAYES — senior writer at The Weekly Standard

• WISCONSIN PRIMARY PREVIEW: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz Shift Into High Gear as Wisconsin Primary Looms.
• Trump plans to choose experienced politician for VP
• Trump to NYT on Heidi Cruz retweet: ‘Yeah, it was a mistake’
• Trump calls on Kasich to quit race: ‘He’s taking my votes’
• Trump stands by comments about nukes in Asia

8am – B Entertainment News:

• WrestleMania 32 has brought us Shaq and The Rock
• Katy Perry and Dolly Parton Dazzle in Duet at ACM Awards
• ‘Batman v Superman’ falls 68 percent in second weekend. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Word of mouth might be kryptonite for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which fell a steep 68 percent in its second weekend in theaters according to comScore estimates Sunday. The superhero pic earned an estimated $52.4 million over the weekend, easily besting the modest new openers like “God’s Not Dead 2″ and “Meet the Blacks

8am – C Leaked Panama papers show leaders hid billions in offshore shell companies, Putin, Iceland, Assad implicated. Massive leak reveals money rings of global leaders. (USA Today) — A massive, anonymous leak of financial documents from a Panamanian law firm has revealed an extensive worldwide network of offshore “shell” companies — including ones with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin — that allow the wealthy to hide their assets from taxes and, in some cases, to launder billions in cash, a German newspaper alleges. The documents, combed through in the past year by dozens of journalists worldwide, show links to 72 current or former heads of state, including dictators accused of looting their own countries. The data reveal details of secret offshore companies linked to families and associates of Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak, Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi and Syria’s president Bashar Assad, among others. It also alleges a billion-dollar money laundering ring run by a Russian bank tied to associates of Putin. The bank allegedly channeled money through offshore companies, two of which were officially owned by one of the Russian president’s closest friends.

8am – D INTERVIEW — SUSAN KOSISKY, chief microbiologist and Lab Director at the U.S. Army Centralized Allergen Extract Lab at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center – previewed allergy season.

8am – E SNL skewers Tennessee Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes. Scottie Nell Hughes, a conservative media personality and vocal Donald Trump supporter from Hendersonville, was parodied on the latest episode of Saturday Night Live. In a five-minute sketch, Hughes, played by SNL cast member Cecily Strong, defended Trump for his controversial comments on women. The spoof comes days after Hughes appeared on CNN to defend Trump’s comments about abortion. Hughes emerged last year as a vocal supporter of the Republican presidential candidate and has appeared on CNN and Fox News countless times.