Joe diGenova, Ken Cuccinelli and Washington Post’s Emily Heil joined WMAL on Monday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, May 2, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Bin Laden Anniversary: Do You Feel Safer Now?

5am – D         White House Correspondents Dinner Highlights

5am – E         2016 ELECTION NEWS:

• Ted Cruz Wins 10 of 13 Delegates at Virginia GOP Convention. Ted Cruz won 10 of the 13 delegates up for grabs at the Virginia Republican Convention today, with Donald Trump taking the other three after state delegates voted in favor of the slate recommended by the nominations committee. The result had many Trump supporters upset, because Trump won the Virginia primary. “I voted for Cruz in the primary but I am against this slate because this is not what our state voted for,” said one delegate who took the mic to voice her concerns. Cruz surrogate Ken Cuccinnelli argued that the outcome today was not out of line, because Trump only won 38 percent of the vote in Virginia.
• Trump backers furious over defeat at Arizona GOP convention. (Fox News) – Backers of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump accused the Arizona GOP convention of cheating after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pulled out a strategic victory Saturday. Cruz won virtually all of the 28 at-large national delegates and roughly split the 27 delegates selected by congressional district. Cruz’s Arizona campaign organizer says simple math led to the at-large victory. Cruz offered a nearly identical slate of candidates as John Kasich backers, and the combined votes led to a win. State Treasurer Jeff DeWitt, who chairs Trump’s Arizona campaign, said a challenge is possible after calls for a revote were rejected by the party.
• INDIANA PRIMARY PREVIEW: Trump leads big in Indiana state primaries: Poll. Trump leads big in Indiana state primaries: Poll = Washington, May 2 (IANS) Republican front-runner Donald Trump has a double-digit lead over party rival and Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Indiana state primary on Tuesday, according to a new poll. The new joint poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, NBC News and Marist College, says Trump leads Cruz by 15 percentage points in Indiana, 49 percent to 34 percent. Ohio Governor John Kasich is last at 13 percent, Politico reported. Cruz is hoping for a win in order to continue preventing Trump from securing the party nomination before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The Democratic race is a bit more competitive. Front-runner Hillary Clinton leads Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, 50 percent to 46 percent, among likely Indiana primary voters. The poll, conducted from April 26 to 28, included 645 likely Republican primary voters and 449 likely Democratic primary voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points and 4.6 percentage points, respectively.
• Trump Happy World Leaders Fear Him: “It’s A Psychological Thing… Let Them Be A Little Concerned” — During a Sunday interview with ‘Fox News Sunday’ host Chris Wallace. Wallace asked the GOP frontrunner if the fact that he says the U.S. spends too much money on overseas wars means that he is the “dove” in the race. “That sounds more like a liberal Democrat,” Wallace mused. “It almost sounds like you would be, as a general election candidate, you would be criticizing Hillary Clinton from the left?” Trump does not want to be characterized as a dove, saying he will be much “tougher” than Hillary Clinton, but that if she and Obama had spent “365 days a year at the beach” instead of in the War Room the world would be much better off. Trump noted that other countries fear this idea, so that proves he is tough. “In fact, I read today where they’re very concerned with me, they feel I’m very strong, very tough and they’re very concerned.” “That’s a psychological thing, which frankly is good,” he said. “Let them be a little concerned.”
• Bernie Sanders Promises A Contested Democratic Convention. The senator from Vermont is trying to convince superdelegates to switch from Hillary Clinton to him.  WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) vowed to take his fight for the Democratic presidential nomination all the way to the party’s convention in July, promising not to give up even if he continues to trail Hillary Clinton in pledged delegates. “It is virtually impossible for Secretary Clinton to reach the majority of convention delegates by June 14 — that is the last day that a primary will be held — with pledged delegates alone. … She will need superdelegates to take her over the top at the convention in Philadelphia,” he told reporters in a press conference at the National Press Club Sunday afternoon. “In other words,” he added, “the convention will be a contested contest.” Sanders lags behind Clinton in both pledged delegates and superdelegates, those Democratic officials who are free to vote for whomever they want at the convention. The senator’s longshot strategy increasingly focuses on convincing superdelegates — who overwhelmingly back Clinton (520 for her, compared to 39 for Sanders) — to switch to him.

 

6am – A/B/C The government wants your fingerprint to unlock your phone. Should that be allowed? (LA Times) — As the world watched the FBI spar with Apple this winter in an attempt to hack into a San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, federal officials were quietly waging a different encryption battle in a Los Angeles courtroom. There, authorities obtained a search warrant compelling the girlfriend of an alleged Armenian gang member to press her finger against an iPhone that had been seized from a Glendale home. The phone contained Apple’s fingerprint identification system for unlocking, and prosecutors wanted access to the data inside it. It marked a rare time that prosecutors have demanded a person provide a fingerprint to open a computer, but experts expect such cases to become more common as cracking digital security becomes a larger part of law enforcement work. The Glendale case and others like it are forcing courts to address a basic question: How far can the government go to obtain biometric markers such as fingerprints and hair? The U.S. Supreme Court has held that police can search phones with a valid warrant and compel a person in custody to provide physical evidence such as fingerprints without a judge’s permission.

6am – D         Ringling elephants perform last show, end 145-year-old tradition. (USA Today) — WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Ringling’s final 11 performing elephants marched into arenas for the last time Sunday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Providence, R.I., ending a 145-year-old tradition of the giant pachyderms taking part in the big top. Ringling bowed to pressure as state and local rules placed more restrictions on the circus’ use of exotic animals and the bullhook trainers use to control the animals. The move followed decades of protests by animal rights activists. Thunderous applause greeted Mable, April, Asia, Luna and Tonka as the elephants marched into the arena here in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for the final time wearing their well-known red leather, gold studded headdresses emblazoned with “Greatest Show on Earth.” They stood on their heads, turned in circles, balanced on a small stand and even took a nap, albeit a brief one — the crowd shouted “Wake up, elephants” only moments later.

6am – E         Texas Will Make May 26 ‘John Wayne Day’ (Breitbart) — Texas lawmakers named May 26 as “John Wayne Day” in the state. Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation declaring the iconic star an honorary Texan.” Wayne rose to fame as one of the most popular movie starts during the 20th century. PRNewswire reports he’s respected not only a talented movie star, but also “as a loving father, a fisherman, a horseman, a hunter, an adventurer and an unabashed patriot of the United States of America.” “The Duke’s independent spirit embodies what it means to be a Texan and personifies the storied history of the Lone Star State,” said Gov. Abbott. “I am proud to join all Texans in honoring his legacy and celebrating May 26th as ‘John Wayne Day’.” “Texas was always an important place to our father,” said Ethan Wayne, the son of the movie icon. “He starred, directed and produced one of his most distinguishing films, The Alamo, and told stories of how he felt it could have been his second home. The culture of the state and the

California Lawmakers reject John Wayne Day over racism concerns. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — What a California lawmaker intended as a benign resolution honoring a late, world-renowned movie icon exploded into an emotional debate over decades-old racist comments. The state Assembly defeated the official ode to John Wayne Thursday after several legislators described statements he made about racial minorities and his support for the anti-communist House Un-American Activities Committee and John Birch Society. Known as “Duke,” a nickname he picked up as a boy in Glendale, California, Wayne grew into the star of movies including “The Alamo,” ”The Green Berets” and “True Grit,” for which he won an Academy Award, while portraying the gruff, rugged cowboys and brave soldiers who were his stock in trade. Republican State Assemblyman Matthew Harper of Huntington Beach sought to declare May 26, 2016, as John Wayne Day to mark the day the actor was born. “He had disturbing views towards race,” objected Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, leading off a 20-minute debate. Alejo cited a 1971 interview with Playboy in which Wayne talked disparagingly about blacks. “I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people,” he told the magazine (http://bit.ly/1SwJCDa .) Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, who is black, said he found Wayne’s comments personally offensive.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• Issa: Clinton email probe may go past election. (The Hill) — The scale of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails could force the probe past the election, Rep. Darrell Issa told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “I believe they are going to have to make a summary finding as to her violation of the national records act, her taking of the documents, and of course a classified portion,” Issa said, according to the Washington Examiner. But when it comes to investigating “coordinating her activities and President Clinton’s activities and Chelsea’s activities in the Clinton Foundation, they’re probably going to have to leave that until after the election.”

7am – B         White House Correspondents Dinner Highlights

7am – C         Metro Problems: FTA safety inspectors uncover more track defects that Metro missed: (Washington Post/Robert McCartney) — Other problems described in the reports or by federal officials included the following: ●Most Metro employees “knowingly” ignore requirements for setting handbrakes on rail cars in the yard, thus increasing the risk of unintended train movements.

• Metro trains have run red lights five times since the FTA took over safety oversight, and the FTA called such overruns “a pervasive and serious problem.”
• The total number of safety defects identified by the FTA has tripled, to 680, since an interim report in mid-April, mainly because of problems found during the “blitz” begun in March.
• The FTA has begun 47 safety investigations since October, including of a derailment Wednesday in the Shady Grove rail yard and of the recent smoke incidents along the Red Line.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the federal reports offer new evidence of the need for Metro to take aggressive steps to repair deteriorating equipment and intensify the commitment to safety among managers and workers. One document is a 25-page PowerPoint briefing and the other is a five-page fact sheet. Asked in an interview why Metro had not identified the track defects before the FTA review, Foxx answered simply, “They weren’t looking.” He continued: “Our teams have been in that system for several months, but really the rate of inspections in these months has been more than they’ve had for quite some time. That in itself is troubling.” Asked whether Metro was simply not doing the inspections, or instead was failing to do them thoroughly, Foxx answered, “Yes” — implying that both were true. Metro said it addressed all of the track defects identified by the FTA within 24 hours or less. “We are working side by side with FTA on its safety inspections and have taken immediate action to address all items that are safety critical,” Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly said.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — KEN CUCCINELLI –  former Virginia attorney general, Sen Ted Cuz adviser and delegate wrangler or “delegate hunter”

• Ted Cruz Wins 10 of 13 Delegates at Virginia GOP Convention. Ted Cruz won 10 of the 13 delegates up for grabs at the Virginia Republican Convention today, with Donald Trump taking the other three after state delegates voted in favor of the slate recommended by the nominations committee.
• Trump backers furious over defeat at Arizona GOP convention.Backers of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump accused the Arizona GOP convention of cheating after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pulled out a strategic victory Saturday. Cruz won virtually all of the 28 at-large national delegates and roughly split the 27 delegates selected by congressional district. Cruz’s Arizona campaign organizer says simple math led to the at-large victory. Cruz offered a nearly identical slate of candidates as John Kasich backers, and the combined votes led to a win.
• Cruz campaign focuses on the only way he can win: Convention delegates (LA Times) – In a private meeting with his most ardent California supporters, Ted Cruz told them that they are vital to his hopes of snatching the GOP nomination from front-runner Donald Trump. “Every one of you is critical,” he told about 250 people gathered in a poolside tent here at the California Republican Party’s convention. “The real force of communications is grass-roots and making that case one-on-one, person-to-person, on foreign policy, on economic policy. That is powerful.”

7am – E         Entertainment News:

• Will Ferrell pulls out of Reagan Alzheimer’s comedy. Will Ferrell has backed out of a comedy about Ronald Reagan’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease amid outrage from the former president’s family. The 48-year-old comic had seen the script for “Reagan” and considered starring and producing in the movie — but had a change of heart, a rep for Ferrell told Page Six exclusively Friday. “The ‘Reagan’ script is one of a number of scripts that had been submitted to Will Ferrell which he had considered. While it is by no means an ‘Alzheimer’s comedy’ as has been suggested, Mr. Ferrell is not pursuing this project,” the rep said. The rep wouldn’t say whether the decision was a direct result of the outcry from Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis, who on Thursday called the movie “cruel” and Farrell “heartless.”
• Newt Gingrich: Reagan Movie Would Work if it Was Like ‘The Notebook.  “I’m delighted that Ferrell had the good sense to figure out this is a dead loser,” former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich told Variety Saturday night at a party before White House Correspondents Dinner, responding to the news  that Will Ferrell had pulled out of a the Black List script “Reagan.” But, Newt does think a Reagan movie would work, if it were not a comedy, but rather a love story in the vein of “The Notebook,” the 2004 film that touches on the subject of dementia. “‘The Notebook’ deals with the real sense of the human tragedy, and at the same time of the opportunity for loving,” Gingrich said. “I’m almost crying talking to you about it. It is so real. I’ve probably seen it seven times.” But in Gingrich’s vision the film should be built around Nancy Reagan, who died earlier this year, and her experience caring for her husband. “Nancy has the really complicated role,” Gingrich said. “She talked to me about this one time. He looks totally normal but he is not there, and she is having to go through the whole process — they are building the library, they are trying to make sure they are preserving his legacy, and she is really at the intersection. Ronnie is not.”
• Kirk Cameron: Wives Should ‘Honor and Respect and Follow Their Husband’s Lead’. Kirk Cameron is once again sparking conversations with his conservative views on marriage. In a recent interview with the Christian Post, the former Growing Pains star said, “Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband’s lead, not to tell their husband how he ought to be a better husband. When each person gets their part right, regardless of how their spouse is treating them, there is hope for real change in their marriage.” Cameron – an outspoken evangelical Christian who has been married to actress Chelsea Noble, 51, since 1991 – is currently on a tour called “Love Worth Fighting For,” a Bible-based event intended to teach others how to “strengthen and encourage your marriage.” In the interview, he added that “a lot of people don’t know that marriage comes with instructions,” and “we find them right there in God’s word.”

 

8am – A/B/C Malia Obama to attend Harvard after gap year. (CNN) Malia Obama, the oldest of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama’s two daughters, will attend Harvard University. She’ll begin there in the fall of 2017, after taking a gap year, the White House announced Sunday. She’ll be a member of the class of 2021. Obama said at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday that his family plans to stay in Washington for two years after his presidency ends so that their youngest daughter, Sasha, can finish high school. “Our decision has actually presented a bit of a dilemma because traditionally presidents don’t stick around after they’re done. And it’s something that I’ve been brooding about a little bit,” Obama joked during the comedy routine at the dinner, using it to launch into a video about what he’d do after leaving office — which featured Vice President Joe Biden and former House Speaker John Boehner.  He also joked that Michelle Obama is eager to “stay closer to her plot of carrots. She’s already making plans to see them every day.” Malia Obama’s year-long deferral before her first year at Harvard is a route taken by about 80 to 110 admitted students. Higher education experts tout the off-year as a way to travel, engage in a long-term special project or otherwise use the time in a constructive and meaningful way.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — EMILY HEIL – co-author of the Reliable Source at The Washington Post – recapped the highlights of the White House Correspondents Dinner.

• EMILY HEIL: Nerdy fight breaks out at WHCD afterparty between Fox News and Huffington Post reporters

8am – E         2016 ELECTION NEWS:

• Ted Cruz Wins 10 of 13 Delegates at Virginia GOP Convention. Ted Cruz won 10 of the 13 delegates up for grabs at the Virginia Republican Convention today, with Donald Trump taking the other three after state delegates voted in favor of the slate recommended by the nominations committee. The result had many Trump supporters upset, because Trump won the Virginia primary. “I voted for Cruz in the primary but I am against this slate because this is not what our state voted for,” said one delegate who took the mic to voice her concerns. Cruz surrogate Ken Cuccinnelli argued that the outcome today was not out of line, because Trump only won 38 percent of the vote in Virginia.
• Trump backers furious over defeat at Arizona GOP convention. (Fox News) – Backers of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump accused the Arizona GOP convention of cheating after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pulled out a strategic victory Saturday. Cruz won virtually all of the 28 at-large national delegates and roughly split the 27 delegates selected by congressional district. Cruz’s Arizona campaign organizer says simple math led to the at-large victory. Cruz offered a nearly identical slate of candidates as John Kasich backers, and the combined votes led to a win. State Treasurer Jeff DeWitt, who chairs Trump’s Arizona campaign, said a challenge is possible after calls for a revote were rejected by the party.
• INDIANA PRIMARY PREVIEW: Trump leads big in Indiana state primaries: Poll. Trump leads big in Indiana state primaries: Poll = Washington, May 2 (IANS) Republican front-runner Donald Trump has a double-digit lead over party rival and Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Indiana state primary on Tuesday, according to a new poll. The new joint poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, NBC News and Marist College, says Trump leads Cruz by 15 percentage points in Indiana, 49 percent to 34 percent. Ohio Governor John Kasich is last at 13 percent, Politico reported. Cruz is hoping for a win in order to continue preventing Trump from securing the party nomination before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The Democratic race is a bit more competitive. Front-runner Hillary Clinton leads Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, 50 percent to 46 percent, among likely Indiana primary voters. The poll, conducted from April 26 to 28, included 645 likely Republican primary voters and 449 likely Democratic primary voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points and 4.6 percentage points, respectively.
• Trump Happy World Leaders Fear Him: “It’s A Psychological Thing… Let Them Be A Little Concerned” — During a Sunday interview with ‘Fox News Sunday’ host Chris Wallace. Wallace asked the GOP frontrunner if the fact that he says the U.S. spends too much money on overseas wars means that he is the “dove” in the race. “That sounds more like a liberal Democrat,” Wallace mused. “It almost sounds like you would be, as a general election candidate, you would be criticizing Hillary Clinton from the left?” Trump does not want to be characterized as a dove, saying he will be much “tougher” than Hillary Clinton, but that if she and Obama had spent “365 days a year at the beach” instead of in the War Room the world would be much better off. Trump noted that other countries fear this idea, so that proves he is tough. “In fact, I read today where they’re very concerned with me, they feel I’m very strong, very tough and they’re very concerned.” “That’s a psychological thing, which frankly is good,” he said. “Let them be a little concerned.”
• Bernie Sanders Promises A Contested Democratic Convention. The senator from Vermont is trying to convince superdelegates to switch from Hillary Clinton to him.  WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) vowed to take his fight for the Democratic presidential nomination all the way to the party’s convention in July, promising not to give up even if he continues to trail Hillary Clinton in pledged delegates. “It is virtually impossible for Secretary Clinton to reach the majority of convention delegates by June 14 — that is the last day that a primary will be held — with pledged delegates alone. … She will need superdelegates to take her over the top at the convention in Philadelphia,” he told reporters in a press conference at the National Press Club Sunday afternoon. “In other words,” he added, “the convention will be a contested contest.” Sanders lags behind Clinton in both pledged delegates and superdelegates, those Democratic officials who are free to vote for whomever they want at the convention. The senator’s longshot strategy increasingly focuses on convincing superdelegates — who overwhelmingly back Clinton (520 for her, compared to 39 for Sanders) — to switch to him.