Mornings on the Mall 02.08.17

Ken Klukowski, National Zoo’s Brandie Smith, Byron York, VA Senator Dick Black and guest host Mary Walter joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C   Poll: Fallout From Family And Friends Post-Trump Win:

• A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll shows it has worsened, suggesting a widening of the gulf between Republicans and Democrats and a hardening of ideological positions that sociologists and political scientists say increases distrust in government and will make political compromise more difficult. The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 6,426 people, taken from Dec. 27 to Jan. 18, shows the number of respondents who argued with family and friends over politics jumped 6 percentage points from a pre-election poll at the height of the campaign in October, up to 39 percent from 33 percent. Sixteen percent said they have stopped talking to a family member or friend because of the election – up marginally from 15 percent. That edged higher, to 22 percent, among those who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Overall, 13 percent of respondents said they had ended a relationship with a family member or close friend over the election, compared to 12 percent in October. “It’s been pretty rough for me,” said Rob Brunello, 25, of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, a truck driver who faced a backlash from friends and family for backing Trump. “People couldn’t believe Trump could beat Hillary. They are having a hard time adjusting to it,” he said. At the same time, many people reported their relationships have not suffered because of the election. The poll found about 40 percent had not argued with a family member or friend over the race. The election also enabled a significant number to forge new bonds – 21 percent said they became friends with someone they did not know because of the election, though the poll question did not ask respondents to specify if the friendship was with someone from a different party.

5am – D         SENATE UPDATES:

• Tentative Senate Schedule: Sessions confirmation: Wed evening. Price cloture: Wed evening.
• Silencing Elizabeth Warren backfires on Senate GOP. Washington (CNN)The Senate has silenced Elizabeth Warren. And by doing so, majority Republicans just handed the liberal firebrand a megaphone — further elevating President Donald Trump’s fiercest and most prominent critic in the Senate and turning her into a Democratic hero. The rebuke of Warren came after the Massachusetts Democrat read a letter written 30 years ago by Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., opposing the nomination of Jeff Sessions for a federal judgeship.  Warren cited the letter during a debate on the nomination of Sessions — now an Alabama senator — as Donald Trump’s attorney general. Reading from King’s letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986, Warren said: “Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now seeks to serve as a federal judge.” Republicans cried foul — charging that Warren violated Senate rules against impugning another senator. A vote along party lines upheld that decision, turning what could have been an ordinary late-night partisan floor speech for political devotees into a national story.
• Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie. WASHINGTON — Betsy DeVos, a wealthy Republican donor with almost no experience in public education, was confirmed by the Senate as the nation’s education secretary on Tuesday, but only with the help of a historic tiebreaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence after weeks of protests and two defections within her own party. The 51-to-50 vote capped an all-night vigil on the Senate floor, where, one by one, Democrats denounced Ms. DeVos to a mostly empty chamber. But they did not get a third Republican defection that would have stopped Ms. DeVos — a billionaire who has devoted much of her life to promoting charter schools and vouchers — from becoming the steward of the nation’s nearly 100,000 public schools.

5am – E         Grounded: Nearly two-thirds of US Navy’s strike fighters can’t fly. Congress’ inability to pass a budget is hurting the fleet, leaders say. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet strike fighters are the tip of the spear, embodying most of the fierce striking power of the aircraft carrier strike group. But nearly two-thirds of the fleet’s strike fighters can’t fly — grounded because they’re either undergoing maintenance or simply waiting for parts or their turn in line on the aviation depot backlog. Overall, more than half the Navy’s aircraft are grounded, most because there isn’t enough money to fix them. Additionally, there isn’t enough money to fix the fleet’s ships, and the backlog of ships needing work continues to grow. Overhauls — “availabilities” in Navy parlance — are being canceled or deferred, and when ships do come in they need longer to refit. Every carrier overall for at least three years has run long, and some submarines are out of service for prolonged periods, as much as four years or more. One submarine, the Boise, has lost its diving certification and can’t operate pending shipyard work. Leaders claim that if more money doesn’t become available, five more submarines will be in the same state by the end of this year. The Navy can’t get money to move around service members and their families to change assignments, and about $440 million is needed to pay sailors. And the service claims 15 percent of its shore facilities are in failed condition — awaiting repair, replacement or demolition.

6am – A/B/C ‘A day without a woman’ — Women’s March organizers plan general strike. Washington (CNN) The organizers of last month’s Women’s March announced Monday their intention to hold a general strike at a date to be determined. Posts across the official social media accounts for the Women’s March read: “General Strike: A Day Without A Woman,” with a subhead saying, “Date To Be Announced.” The Women’s March began with a call for a march on Washington the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. After millions showed up for events across the world, including a massive turnout within the nation’s capital itself, the organizers committed to building the event into an effective movement. The Women’s March website lists a series of 10 actions to be undertaken within the first 100 days of the Trump presidency. The first three actions listed involved organizing and contacting elected representatives. But the call for a general strike would be a return to the streets and a physical jab at the economy.

6am – D         D.C. Council rejects emergency bill to give retention bonuses to retiring police officers. (Washington Times) — The D.C. Council rejected Tuesday an emergency bill that would have offered retention bonuses to retiring Metropolitan Police officers. In a 9-4 vote, the majority of the lawmakers followed the suggestion of council member Charles Allen, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who said that passing the legislation as an emergency measure — without committee hearings or two votes for approval — would be hasty. “The Gray proposal merits a conversation and a hearing,” Mr. Allen, Ward 6 Democrat, said before the vote. “It’s a very interesting idea that we have to look at and explore.” He was referring to the legislation’s chief sponsor — council member Vincent Gray, Ward 7 Democrat. “I agree that we have a need to stabilize our police force. Attrition needs to be taken seriously,” Mr. Allen said. “I’m not sure passing it on emergency is the right way to go. We need a comprehensive solution. And we need to make sure we have both the size and type of force that works best for the District.” As emergency legislation, the Gray bill needed nine votes in favor to pass. Two Democratic lawmakers who initially had signaled their support for the measure — council members Anita Bonds (at-large) and Mary Cheh (Ward 3) — voted against the bill on Tuesday.

6am – E         Meth Mayor Gets Replaced: Some Virginia voters went to the ballot box to elect a new mayor of Fairfax City and House delegate. Virginia Voters Select Fairfax City Mayor, House Delegate Fairfax City Councilmember David L. Meyer has been elected mayor in a special election. According to unofficial results posted on the Department of Elections website Tuesday night, Meyer received 1,644 votes, or 42 percent, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting. Former Mayor R. Scott Silverthorne resigned last year after he was arrested for what police said was an attempt to trade drugs for sex in a sting operation. Voters in Richmond and part of Henrico County picked Richmond School Board member Jeff Bourne, a Democrat, to be the new delegate from the 71st District.

6am – F         Teenage Judy Garland Was Repeatedly Molested by Munchkins on Set of Wizard of Oz, According to Her Ex-Husband. (People) — In The Wizard of Oz, the lovable Munchkins help Dorothy follow the yellow brick road to find her way home. But just like Oz himself, it turns out some of the Munchkins may not have been all they seemed. A new memoir by Judy Garland’s ex-husband claims the Dorothy actress was repeatedly molested by some of the actors who played the Munchkins in the classic musical. Sid Luft, who was married to Garland from 1952-1965, described the alleged abuse in a new, posthumous memoir, Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland. ‘They would make Judy’s life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress … The men were 40 or more years old,” wrote the producer and business manager, who died in 2005. “They thought they could get away with anything because they were so small,” he added.  Garland, who died in 1969, described the actor’s behavior before her death.  In a 1967 interview with Jack Paar, Judy Garland said, “They were little drunks … They got smashed every night, and they picked them up in butterfly nets.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW – KEN KLUKOWSKI – Legal Editor, Breitbart News and Fellow and Senior Legal Analyst with the American Civil Rights Union

• Fiery judges put lawyers on their heels over Trump’s travel ban. Travel ban hearing: Fiery judges put lawyers on their heels. (CNN) Three federal judges grilled lawyers from the Justice Department and Washington state Tuesday night as they considered whether to lift a US-wide block on President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The appeals court judges sparred with attorneys over the President’s use of sweeping executive power, questioned the connection between the seven affected countries and terrorism, and launched into tough questions over whether the ban discriminated against Muslims. During the telephone hearing, the lawyer representing the Justice Department, August Flentje, argued that the President had wide powers relating to immigration and national security. He contended that federal judges did not have the power to review Trump’s executive order, which bars citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days. It also prevents entry for all refugees for 120 days and indefinitely halts the admission of refugees from Syria.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW — DR. BRANDIE SMITH — Associate director of Animal Care Sciences at the Smithsonian National Zoo

• Smithsonian’s National Zoo says bye-bye to panda Bao Bao. (USA Today) — WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo will say goodbye to giant panda Bao Bao, who is headed to her new home in China, with several days of festivities beginning Feb. 16 that offer plenty of opportunities to see her one last time. Bao Bao, 3, will be welcomed aboard the FedEx Panda Express for safe travels to Chengdu, China, on Feb. 21. One keeper and one veterinarian will fly with the panda to monitor her during the trip and feed Bao Bao her favorite treats, including bamboo, apples, pears and cooked sweet potatoes. The move is part of a cooperative program with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which requires that all cubs born at the Zoo head to China by their fourth birthday. Bao Bao will potentially enter the country’s breeding program after she turns 5. The zoo is sending Bao Bao off with a Reddit chat, Facebook painting session, an ice cake party and many chances to watch her enjoy her snacks.

7am – D         SENATE UPDATES:

• Tentative Senate Schedule: Sessions confirmation: Wed evening. Price cloture: Wed evening.
• Silencing Elizabeth Warren backfires on Senate GOP.
• Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie.

7am – E         Entertainment News:

• Christie Brinkley, 63, poses for SI Swimsuit Issue with daughters. (Fox News) — Christie Brinkley is returning to the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue at age 63. And this time she’s appearing with her two daughters. Brinkley shared a picture on Instagram of herself with 31-year-old Alexa Ray Joel, her daughter with singer Billy Joel, and 18-year-old Sailor Brinkley Cook, in the issue coming out this month. In the Instagram post, Brinkley thanks Sports Illustrated “for sending the powerful message that good things come in packages of every size and we do not come with an expiration date.” Brinkley told People magazine she had thought her days of posing in a bathing suit were over when she turned 30. But she said getting to pose with her daughters convinced her to do it again.

• Lady Gaga and Metallica to Duet at Grammys. Heavy Metal Lovers! The 59th Grammy Awards air Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Lady Gaga and Metallica will share the stage at the 59th Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy announced Tuesday. Whispers of the forthcoming collaboration on Music’s Biggest Night first began making the rounds late on Monday, when a Gaga fan account tweeted a snippet of an alleged promo clip for the show, which announced: “Lady Gaga duets with Metallica.” This wouldn’t be the first time both Gaga and Metallica paired up with other performers at the Grammys. Mother Monster memorably took the stage for a “Poker Face”-“Speechless”-“Your Song” mash-up with pal Elton John in 2010 and, last year, took the stage with Nile Rodgers for an epic tribute to David Bowie. Meanwhile, Metallica — who are up for this year’s Best Rock Song title for their 2016 single “Hardwired” — last teamed up with Chinese pianist Lang Lang on their classic hit “One.” In addition to Gaga and Metallica, the Grammys will include performances by Adele, Kelsea Ballerini, Chance the Rapper, Daft Punk, Lukas Graham, Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato, Maren Morris, Katy Perry, the Weeknd and more.
• Lady Gaga sales spike 1,000% after Super Bowl halftime show. (USA Today) — It’s good to be Lady Gaga. Two days removed from her well-received Super Bowl halftime performance, her music sales and streaming stats are soaring. Digital sales: Nielsen Music reports she sold 125,000 song downloads. That’s up roughly 960% compared to the day before the game. She sold over 23,000 albums on Sunday, representing a 2,000% increase. The newest song in her Super Bowl set, A Million Reasons, saw the biggest sales bump with 45,000 downloads, up 900% from one day earlier. In fact, A Million Reasons, a track from her October release Joanne, had its best sales week ever.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – BYRON YORK – Chief Political Correspondent for the Washington Examiner @ByronYork

• Court challenge to Trump executive order
• Thoughts on Dems slow walking confirmations (DeVos, Sessions, Gorsuch, etc) – Tentative Senate Schedule: Sessions confirmation: Wed evening. Price cloture: Wed evening. After Sessions confirmation vote tonight, expect procedural vote to break filibuster on Rep Price to become HHS Sec

8am – B         Media News:

• Piers Morgan: The Media Is ‘Absolutely Determined’ To Bring Down Trump. “… it is dangerous and toxic.”  Former CNN anchor Piers Morgan told Tucker Carlson on Monday that the media is “absolutely determined” to bring down President Trump. “I think some of them absolutely are [determined to take him down],” said Morgan, the current editor-at-large for the Daily Mail Online, during his appearance on Fox News Channel. “They were in the tank for Hillary Clinton, their candidate.” His advice to liberals in the media who are still upset at Trump’s election?  “Stop trying to delegitimize him,” Morgan said. “Stop trying to make every tweet, every statement, every comment he says the Armageddon of the world.” Morgan said there is a “war” between the media and the White House unlike anything he has ever seen before, and added that it is “pretty rich” for the press to attack Trump, citing their conduct toward Trump during the presidential election.
• White House and CNN clash over Kellyanne Conway’s ‘credibility’ (Yahoo News) — Top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNN Tuesday afternoon, hours after the network doubled down on reports that it declined to have her on-air last weekend due to questions about her credibility. CNN’s relationship with the president’s counselor was first called into question by a New York Times report that claimed the network declined to have her as a guest on Sunday, in part due to “serious questions about her credibility.” Conway disputed that account in a Monday tweet in which she said family commitments kept her out of the studios for the Sunday shows. CNN’s communications team fired back with a tweet of its own that said the network’s premier Sunday show, “State of the Union,” “passed” after the White House “offered” Conway as a guest. The questions about Conway’s reputation came after she referred to the “Bowling Green Massacre,” a terrorist attack that never happened, in multiple interviews in which she defended President Trump’s travel ban. Conway later claimed she “misspoke” and said she was referring to a failed plot hatched by Iraqi nationals living in Bowling Green, Ky. She also faced criticism for defending the White House’s false claims about the crowd size at Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. At the White House briefing on Tuesday, Yahoo News asked press secretary Sean Spicer about CNN’s reported problems with Conway and whether the Trump administration would be “willing to offer alternative representatives to networks that refuse to work with specific spokespeople.” Spicer described Conway as “a very trusted aide of the president” and claimed that CNN denied that it had questioned her credibility.

8am – C         Blogger forced to pay ‘substantial sum’ to Melania Trump in defamation lawsuit. (Fox News) – A Maryland blogger has been forced to pay a “substantial sum” to Melania Trump as part of a settlement for a defamation lawsuit over an article containing unsubstantiated claims that the first lady once worked as an escort, her lawyers announced Tuesday. “I posted an article on August 2, 2016 about Melania Trump that was replete with false and defamatory statements about her,” Webster Tarpley, the 71-year-old blogger, said in a statement by Trump’s attorneys, according to the Washington Post. Trump’s legal team declined to provide the settlement amount. Tarpley, of Gaithersburg, didn’t respond to requests from the Washington Post for comment, but his lawyer confirmed a settlement had been reached. “I acknowledge that these false statements were very harmful and hurtful to Mrs. Trump and her family, and therefore I sincerely apologize to Mrs. Trump, her son, her husband and her parents for making these false statements,” Trump’s lawyers — in comments attributed to Tarpley — wrote in their statement. Trump on Monday also re-filed a libel lawsuit against the corporation that publishes the Daily Mail’s website, this time in New York, for reporting on the escort rumors.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – VA STATE SENATOR DICK BLACK – sponsor of one of the sanctuary cities bill

• BIO: Black represents the newly formed 13th District encompassing parts of both Loudoun and Prince Williams Counties. Currently Virginia Senate, Virginia House of Delegates 1998-2006, Prosecuting Attorney and Colonel U.S. Army, Purple Heart Vietnam Veteran, Marine Corps
• Gov. McAuliffe vows to veto GOP sanctuary cities bills. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is vowing to veto Republican-sponsored legislation designed to crack down on sanctuary cities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities. McAuliffe’s spokesman, Brian Coy, told The Associated Press on Tuesday the Democratic governor would veto any bill that makes Virginia localities enforce federal immigration laws. Coy says the governor views the bills as “attempts to divide and demonize people.” The Senate passed a bill Monday allowing sanctuary cities to be sued over crimes committed by people in the country illegally. A House proposal would ban localities from adopting sanctuary-like policies.
• Bill Would Allow Victims To Sue Virginia Sanctuary Cities. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia communities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities could be sued over crimes committed by people living in the country illegally under a measure the state Senate approved Monday. The bill designed to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month to strip funding from such communities. Conservative states across the country have considered a variety of anti-sanctuary city bills since the president’s order, while liberal states have moved to add protections for immigrants in the country illegally. The bill from Republican Sen. Dick Black would make sanctuary cities liable for crimes committed within their locality. It advanced on a 21-19 vote. The measure will help prevent the increasingly common practice across the country of localities “flouting” federal immigration law, Black said during debate on the measure. He also said that victims of crimes committed by people in the country illegally often have little recourse and said the bill would fix that.

8am – E         Why Was Elon Musk in D.C.’s Tunnels?

• Mystery Solved: Why Elon Musk Tweeted About a DC Tunnel. (NBC Washington) — The much-discussed photo Musk tweeted is of a D.C. sewer tunnel he toured on Friday. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s mysterious tweets about tunnels have sparked a flurry of speculation about his next project — and he apparently did some research last week in D.C. The founder of the electric car company Tesla and the private spacecraft company SpaceX toured a D.C. sewer tunnel on Friday, DC Water spokesman John Lisle confirmed. Musk tweeted a photo of a tunnel-boring machine on Friday and then a tunnel on Saturday, noting the tunnel was in D.C. but giving no details. Musk’s every tweet sparks conversation among technology followers about what he will do next.
• Elon Musk Says Tunnel Boring Experiment Is Coming Together Nicely. (Daily Caller) — Elon Musk’s told his Twitter followers that his new tunnel boring experiment could begin sooner rather than later. Musk tweeted a photo of a tunnel and the words, “26 ft diameter tunnel running 2 miles under D.C.” The tweet suggests the Space X CEO is moving at warps speed on his tunnel boring idea. The Tesla boss thinks building a maze of tunnels across the country will ease traffic congestion. “Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging …” Musk wrote in a series of tweets in December. He even gave the program a name: “The Boring Company.” It’s possible Musk, who has floated the tunnel-boring idea once before, was simply venting, irked at having to navigate California’s snarling traffic. But Musk told his Twitter followers that he was “actually going to do this.” Most tech analysts believe that Musk is not one to post ideas on Twitter, or any other social media platform for that matter, without first fleshing out the idea. Any thoughts he floats on Twitter should be taken seriously, they argue.