Mornings on the Mall 06.24.16

Charles Cooke, Peter Morici, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Rod Wheeler, Shannon Bream and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, June 24, 2016

Hosts: Larry O’Connor and Jessie Jane Duff

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – CHARLES COOKE – Editor of National Review Online. Author of ‘The Conservatarian Manifesto.’ – joined WMAL from London to discuss the Brexit vote.

Britain Votes to Leave E.U.; Cameron Plans to Step Down. (NY Times) – LONDON — Britain has voted to leave the European Union, a historic decision sure to reshape the nation’s place in the world, rattle the Continent and rock political establishments throughout the West. Not long after the vote tally was completed, Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the campaign to remain in the bloc, appeared in front of 10 Downing Street to announce that he planned to step down by October, saying the country deserved a leader committed to carrying out the will of the people. The stunning turn of events was accompanied by a plunge in the financial markets, with the value of the British pound and stock prices in Asia plummeting. The margin of victory startled even proponents of a British exit. The “Leave” campaign won by 52 percent to 48 percent. More than 17.4 million people voted in the referendum on Thursday to sever ties with the European Union, and about 16.1 million to remain in the bloc.

5am – D INTERVIEW – PETER MORICI – University of Maryland economist

Brexit Upends Global Markets as Stocks, Pound Plunge; Yen Soars. Global markets buckled as Britain’s vote to leave the European Union drove the pound to the lowest in more than 30 years and European banks to their steepest losses on record. “It’s scary, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” said James Butterfill, 41, head of research and investments at ETF Securities in London. “A lot of people were caught out, and many investors will lose a lot of money.” Sterling slid by the most on record and European stocks headed for the biggest drop since 2008 as trading soared. The yen strengthened past 100 per dollar for the first time since 2013, gold rose the most in more than seven years and benchmark Treasury yields had their biggest drop since 2009. The victory for the “Leave” campaign prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to resign. The outcome stunned many investors who’d put wagers on riskier assets over the past week as bookmakers’ odds suggested the chance of a so-called Brexit was less than one in four. The final tally, announced just after 7 a.m. London time, showed voters had backed “Leave” by 52 percent to 48 percent. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc said the result may prompt them to move thousands of jobs out of London. S&P Global Ratings said the U.K. will lose its AAA credit rating.

5am – E Sports News:

LeBron James Opts for Summer Vacation Instead of Summer Olympics. LeBron James has decided not to play for the United States at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, according to his agent, Rich Paul. “I could use the rest,” James told Cleveland.com, which first reported James’s decision. Other high-profile athletes, including Rory McIlroy, have cited concerns about the Zika virus as a factor in their decisions not to attend the Olympics this summer. But the virus did not play a role in James’s decision, Paul said.
Every sports city in America ranked, from least to most depressing. (USA Today) — The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2016 NBA Championship victory didn’t just succeed in winning the city its first major sports championship since 1964, it also propelled Cleveland up the ranks of the general happiness standings. Before we begin, two caveats: Only cities that have at least one current NFL, NBA or MLB sports franchise qualify for the rankings.
Ben Affleck Jokes About His Filthy Mouth After Deflategate Interview. (USA Today) – Ben Affleck doesn’t give a f–k about the critics. The Oscar winner joked about his recent curse-filled appearance on Bill Simmons’ HBO series, Any Given Wednesday, via Twitter on Thursday, June 23. “For those of you keeping score at home, I gave exactly 18 f–ks about my Pats. Upon reflection, 12 probably would have been sufficient,” Affleck, 43, tweeted to his 2 million–plus followers. “We Boston fans have always been known for our subtlety,” he continued. “One of my favorite interviews; hope you get to see the entire episode. #GoPats.” Hours earlier, the Boston native raised eyebrows when he gave a bizarre interview on the sports talk show about Tom Brady’s 2015 Deflategate scandal.

6am – A/B/C BREXIT: Nigel Farage Says This Was About Immigration. Does This Foreshadow Our Election?

6am – D INTERVIEW — DR. SEBASTIAN GORKA — counter-terrorism and irregular warfare expert, author of NEW book DEFEATING JIHAD

Germany shooting: man killed after opening fire at cinema in Viernheim. According to the press reports, police believed the gunman was a “confused individual” rather than a terrorist. The police spokesperson said: “We have no indications regarding the motive, but we can say with certainty that the attack did not have an Islamist motive.” How could the police determine what his motive was so quickly?
BREXIT: In the independence vote of the UK separating from the European Union, there were concerns behind the influx of immigration and rise of terrorism in Europe.

6am – E Entertainment:

Sinead O’Connor Suicide Watch on Chicago Bridges. Cops are on the hunt for Sinead O’Connor after someone in her family told cops she’s threatening to kill herself. Chicago PD got a call from Irish authorities saying Sinead contacted her family an hour ago and said she was suicidal and planned to jump off a bridge in the Chicago area. We’re told cops actually spotted someone who looked like she fit the profile but it wasn’t Sinead. TMZ obtained scanner audio from the PD giving officers the heads up. We’re told there’s not an active search … but cops were told to be on the lookout.
Led Zeppelin did not copy ‘Stairway to Heaven’ intro, jury finds. Music history will not be rewritten. A jury found Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page not guilty of copyright infringement on perhaps their most famous song, “Stairway to Heaven.” A Los Angeles jury deliberated for about five hours before deciding the band did not steal its most famous licks from another band. In a statement issued after the verdict was announced, Led Zeppelin said they were “grateful” that the jury “ruled in our favor, putting to rest questions about the origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and confirming what we have known for 45 years.” The case centered on claims that Led Zeppelin copied key note patterns in the first two minutes of their hit from a song by the 1960s psychedelic band, Spirit. That song, “Taurus,” is an instrumental ballad released four years prior to “Stairway to Heaven.” The suit was filed for partial song writing credit and compensation by the estate of a deceased Spirit musician, Randy Craig Wolfe.

7am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – CHARLES COOKE – Editor of National Review Online. Author of ‘The Conservatarian Manifesto.’ – joined WMAL from London to discuss the Brexit vote.

7am – D INTERVIEW — ROD WHEELER – Former D.C. Homicide Detective

Baltimore officer acquitted of murder, other charges in Freddie Gray case. A judge acquitted a police driver of all charges in the death of 25-year-old arrestee Freddie Gray, whose broken neck on the way to the station set off Baltimore’s worst riots in decades. BALTIMORE — A judge on Thursday found the sole officer charged with murder in the death of Freddie Gray in police custody not guilty of all charges, leaving prosecutors without a conviction for the third time in the high-profile case that engulfed the city in riots and unrest last year. The verdict in the trial of Caesar Goodson Jr. is the second acquittal handed down by Judge Barry G. Williams in the case. The judge last month acquitted the second officer who went to trial in Gray’s death. The first officer’s trial ended in a hung jury.

7am – E RIP Mike Flynn, founding editor of Breitbart’s Big Government. (Hot Air/Larry O’Connor) — Mike Flynn, the original Editor-in-chief of Andrew Breitbart’s groundbreaking website Big Government, has passed away overnight. The cause of death was not revealed in a statement released by his widow, Holly Flynn: “It is with extreme sadness and heartbreak to announce that Mike Flynn, an Editor at Breitbart News, unexpectedly passed away Thursday evening. While Mike had many accomplishments, what he was most proud of, was being an amazing father, husband, son, and friend to all who knew him. The family wishes for privacy at this difficult time.” Flynn was one of the original merry band of warriors and generals recruited and empowered by the late Andrew Breitbart back in 2009. Along with John Nolte who ran Big Hollywood, Michael Walsh (succeeded by Dana Loesch) at Big Journalism, Alex Marlow, Breitbart’s Associate Editor (now Editor-in-chief) and the author of this column who ran Breitbart.TV, Flynn was an integral part of the early days of the Breitbart “Big Blog” revolution. Flynn was the man who spear-headed Breitbart’s roll-out of the Acorn video series when Big Government first launched in 2009. As Breitbart’s sole employee in Washington DC in those early days, Flynn was the pivot person for every story and strategy focused on the federal government and national politics.

8am – A INTERVIEW — SHANNON BREAM – Fox News Chief Legal Correspondent and frequently sits in for Bret Baier on the anchor desk on Special Report – discussed the Supreme Court’s latest rulings.