Mornings on the Mall 02.04.15

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, Washington Post's Bill Turque, KT McFarland and Mark Levin joined WMAL on Wednesday.

INTERVIEW – MARK LEVIN – Host of The Mark Levin Show on WMAL, weekdays from 6 to 9 pm

INTERVIEW — BILL TURQUE – reporter, The Washington Post – who covers Montgomery County government and politics, has spent more than thirty years as a reporter

INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

5am – A DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW — LT COL TONY SHAFFER — a CIA trained former senior intelligence officer and the New York Times bestselling author – discussed the ISIS killing of a Jordanian pilot.

5am – B/C Obama condemns Islamic State militants for ‘viciousness and barbarity.’ (PBS) — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama offered condolences to the people of Jordan and King Abdullah II of Jordan for the killing of a Jordanian pilot by Islamic State militants and declared that the U.S. and its allies are determined to see the militants and their “hateful ideology banished to the recesses of history.” Vice President Joe Biden, who lunched with the king in Washington Tuesday, also condemned the killings and called for the release of all prisoners held by Islamic State. The reactions from the president and the vice president came after the Jordanian military confirmed the death of Lt. Muath Al-Kaseasbeh, 26, who fell into the hands of the militants in December when his Jordanian F-16 crashed in Syria. He is the only pilot from the U.S.-led coalition to have been captured to date. A video released online Tuesday purportedly showed Al-Kaseasbeh being burned to death by his captors following a weeklong drama over a possible prisoner exchange. “Lieutenant Al-Kaseasbeh’s dedication, courage, and service to his country and family represent universal human values that stand in opposition to the cowardice and depravity of ISIL, which has been so broadly rejected around the globe,” Obama said. Earlier, Obama had said that if the video was authentic it was yet further evidence of the Islamic State group’s “viciousness and barbarity.”

5am – D IRS offers extra tax refunds to illegal immigrants granted amnesty by Obama. (The Washington Times) – IRS Commissioner John Koskinen confirmed Tuesday that illegal immigrants granted amnesty from deportation under President Obama’s new policies would be able to get extra refunds from the IRS for money they earned while working illegally, as long as they filed returns during those years. Illegal immigrants who are granted the amnesty will be given official Social Security numbers, which means they can go back and amend up to three years of previous tax forms to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, potentially claiming billions of dollars in additional payments they were ineligible for before the amnesty. Mr. Koskinen said they will have to have already filed returns for those back-years, and there’s a statute of limitations that governs how far they can go back, but said the agency’s current interpretation of laws would allow them to claim the EITC credit retroactively. “This is the problem you get into,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who demanded a solution to the loophole. “The IRS’s interpretation of the EITC eligibility requirements undermines congressional policy for not rewarding those working illegally in the United States.” The loophole stems from the way the IRS handles illegal immigrants. While the immigrants are not authorized to work in the U.S. legally, the IRS still wants to be paid taxes on the earnings of those who do work, and so it has issued millions of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, or ITINs, to illegal immigrants, enabling them to pay up.

Democrats, one Republican vote to block Homeland Security funding bill. (Susan Ferrechio/Washington Examiner) — Democrats on Tuesday blocked the advancement of a $40 billion Department of Homeland Security funding measure that would have curbed President Obama’s recent moves to help illegal immigrants work and secure benefits in the United States. The bill was defeated mostly along party lines by a vote of 51-48, falling nine votes shy of the 60 needed to block a filibuster. All Democrats voted against the measure. Sen. Dean Heller, of Nevada, was the sole Republican "no" vote.

5am – E Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel. (NY Times) — For more than half a century, “To Kill a Mockingbird” has stood apart as a singular American literary masterpiece, a perennial best seller that has provoked countless classroom discussions about racial and social injustice. It brought instant and overwhelming fame to its enigmatic author, Harper Lee, who soon retreated from the spotlight to her native Monroeville, Ala. She never published another book, leaving her millions of fans yearning for more. Now, at age 88, Ms. Lee has revealed that she wrote another novel after all — a sequel of sorts to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” featuring an aging Atticus Finch and his grown daughter, Scout. n Tuesday, Ms. Lee’s publisher announced its plans to release that novel, recently rediscovered, which Ms. Lee completed in the mid-1950s, before she wrote “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The 304-page book, “Go Set a Watchman,” takes place 20 years later in the same fictional town, Maycomb, Ala., and unfolds as Jean Louise Finch, or Scout, the feisty child heroine of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” returns to visit her father. The novel, which is scheduled for release this July, tackles the racial tensions brewing in the South in the 1950s and delves into the complex relationship between father and daughter. Although written first, “Go Set a Watchman” is a continuation of the same story, with overlapping themes and characters. But Ms. Lee abandoned the manuscript after her editor, who was captivated by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, told her to write a new book from the young heroine’s perspective and to set it during her childhood. “I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told,” Ms. Lee said in a statement released by her publisher. That story became “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a classic that was adapted into a 1962 film and has sold more than 40 million copies globally since it was published in 1960. It continues to sell more than a million copies a year and has been translated into more than 40 languages. The novel takes place during the Depression, as the young Scout and her family are swept up in the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Scout’s father, played by Gregory Peck in the film adaptation, represents the accused man at trial. Despite pleas and prodding from readers and the literary establishment, Ms. Lee never published again.

6am – A/B/C '3-Parent Baby' Law Moves Forward In Britain. (NPR) — Britain is on track to become the first country in the world to legalize a controversial procedure that uses DNA from three people to produce an embryo, as a way to cut out inherited DNA that can cause serious health problems in children. The House of Commons voted to approve the Human Fertilization and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 after a contentious debate in which MP Fiona Bruce called for drawing a "red line" to prevent a practice that she said has not been sufficiently tested. Other opponents said legalizing the method could lead to a new era of modifying the human germline. But backers of the measure disagreed, saying the debate was similar to one surrounding in vitro fertilization in the 1970s, when Britain announced the birth of the world's first human "test-tube baby." As in that case, the proponents said, the risks and potential benefits are to be undertaken only by the parents. While the in vitro technique is often referred to by the shorthand "three-parent baby," the process uses the nuclear DNA from two parents and the mitochondrial DNA of a third donor. The British bill would take effect on Oct. 29.

6am – D Marion Barry University — and free tuition? D.C. lawmaker proposes overhaul of UDC. (Washington Post) — D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange on Tuesday proposed turning the University of the District of Columbia into a tuition-free community college and renaming it after the late Marion Barry. University officials said they had not been consulted on the proposals, and council colleagues offered initial support only for the idea of tuition-free community college — something President Obama last month called for nationwide. Orange, an at-large Democrat and strong supporter of expanding the District’s struggling university, cast his proposals as a chance to keep more high school students on track to obtaining college degrees and to allow students to do so while remaining in the District instead of traveling elsewhere for costlier options. He also argued that renaming the university after Barry, a former mayor who was on the D.C. Council at the time of his death, would be a fitting tribute to the city’s most well-known, if polarizing, figure. “Marion Barry is an individual who should be properly honored, but also should be studied, should be researched, just like you would with [former President] Ronald Reagan or [former President George W.] Bush,” Orange said. “For the District of Columbia, this guy really had a major footprint in the city.” “It can serve as an inspiration for some, it can also serve as a way for others to get up and overcome their adversities — and for some, it can serve as a don’t-do-these-types-of-things, stay on this track,” Orange said. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) joined Orange in co-introducing the measure. But Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who controls the committee dealing with UDC, called the proposal to rename the university after Barry “premature.” Mendelson said he expects a commission to be formed to consider the appropriate way to honor Barry’s legacy.

6am – E Terror News:

Obama condemns Islamic State militants for ‘viciousness and barbarity.’ (PBS) — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama offered condolences to the people of Jordan and King Abdullah II of Jordan for the killing of a Jordanian pilot by Islamic State militants and declared that the U.S. and its allies are determined to see the militants and their “hateful ideology banished to the recesses of history.”
Moussaoui Calls Saudi Princes Patrons of Al Qaeda. (NY Times) — WASHINGTON — In highly unusual testimony inside the federal supermax prison, a former operative for Al Qaeda has described prominent members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family as major donors to the terrorist network in the late 1990s and claimed that he discussed a plan to shoot down Air Force One with a Stinger missile with a staff member at the Saudi Embassy in Washington. The Qaeda member, Zacarias Moussaoui, wrote last year to Judge George B. Daniels of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who is presiding over a lawsuit filed against Saudi Arabia by relatives of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He said he wanted to testify in the case, and after lengthy negotiations with Justice Department officials and the federal Bureau of Prisons, a team of lawyers was permitted to enter the prison and question him for two days last October. In a statement Monday night, the Saudi Embassy said that the national Sept. 11 commission had rejected allegations that the Saudi government or Saudi officials had funded Al Qaeda. “Moussaoui is a deranged criminal whose own lawyers presented evidence that he was mentally incompetent,” the statement said. “His words have no credibility.” Mr. Moussaoui received a diagnosis of mental illness by a psychologist who testified on his behalf, but he was found competent to stand trial on terrorism charges. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 and is held in the most secure prison in the federal system, in Florence, Colo. Mr. Moussaoui’s accusations could not be verified. The allegations from Mr. Moussaoui come at a sensitive time in Saudi-American relations, less than two weeks after the death of the country’s longtime monarch, King Abdullah, and the succession of his brother, King Salman. There has often been tension between Saudi leaders and the Obama administration since the Arab uprisings of 2011 and the efforts to manage the region’s resulting turmoil. Mr. Moussaoui describes meeting in Saudi Arabia with Salman, then the crown prince, and other Saudi royals while delivering them letters from Osama bin Laden. There has long been evidence that wealthy Saudis provided support for bin Laden, the son of a Saudi construction magnate, and Al Qaeda before the 2001 attacks. Saudi Arabia had worked closely with the United States to finance Islamic militants fighting the Soviet Army in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and Al Qaeda drew its members from those militant fighters.
Jordan executes 2 prisoners after ISIS video shows pilot being burned alive. (Fox News) — DEVELOPING: Jordan said it had executed 2 prisoners early Wednesday after a new video surfaced on the Internet Tuesday showing ISIS burning alive a Jordanian pilot the terror group had held since December. Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said that prisoners Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli were executed. Al-Rishawi has been on death row for her role in a triple hotel bombing in the Jordanian capital Amman in 2005 that killed dozens. Over the past week, Jordan had twice offered to swap her for the pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh. However, officials have said his captors did not deliver proof he was still alive, and the swap never moved forward. The 44-year-old Iraqi woman's suicide belt did not detonate at the time of the Amman attack and she fled the scene, but was quickly arrested. After a televised confession, she recanted, but her appeal was turned down. Al-Rishawi had family ties to the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda, a precursor of ISIS. Ziad Al-Karbuli was a former aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian Al Qaeda operative who was killed in 2006.

Jordanian pilot's murder by ISIS met with outrage across the Middle East. (Fox News) — Outrage and condemnation poured across the Middle East on Wednesday as horrified people learned of the video purportedly showing the Islamic State group burning a Jordanian pilot to death. Even in a region accustomed to the violence of war and the little regard the militants have for life, both political and religious leaders offered angry denunciations and called for blood as some on television wept on air talking about the killing of 26-year-old Lt. Muath Al-Kaseasbeh. The head of Sunni Islam's most respected seat of learning, Egypt's Al-Azhar Mosque, even said that Islamic State militants deserved the Quran-prescribed punishment of death, crucifixion or the chopping off of their arms.
Iraq’s Christians Take Up Arms to Fight Islamic State. Hundreds of Christian Men Are Picking Up Rifles to Reclaim Their Towns from Militants. (NY Times) — MANILA TRAINING CENTER, Iraq—Hundreds of Christian men are picking up rifles for the first time at a former U.S. military facility in the hills of northeast Iraq and training to reclaim their towns from Islamic State militants who stormed the country last year. Fresh recruits to a new Iraqi Christian militia said their families were abandoned to militants by government forces last summer and they seek to create a force that will keep their towns and villages safe even after Islamic State is defeated. “I want to defend our own lands, with our own force,” said Nasser Abdullah, 26 years old, who is helping lead younger recruits in training. Sunni neighbors in nearby villages, the recruits said, supported the Sunni extremists of Islamic State as militants seized one Christian village after another in the Nineveh plains, where Iraqi Christians and other minorities live. As Islamic State fighters advanced, Kurdish forces assigned to the region fled under attack, leaving exposed vulnerable communities.

7am – A INTERVIEW — BILL TURQUE – reporter, The Washington Post – who covers Montgomery County government and politics, has spent more than thirty years as a reporter

Montgomery County school superintendent to step down. (Washington Post/Donna St. George and Bill Turque) — Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr will step down in two weeks, abruptly ending his tenure after failing to convince a majority of the school board that he was leading Maryland’s largest school system in the right direction. School officials gave no immediate explanation for Starr’s departure from the 154,000-student district, where he was welcomed in 2011 as a man of infectious personality and big ideas. The eight-member school board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an agreement with Starr that opens the way for a national search for a new superintendent. Starr, 45, flanked by board members at a packed midday news conference, said he was proud of his work in Montgomery but accepted the agreement to part ways. It was a sudden fall for a well-known leader who has enjoyed the national limelight as a critic of what he sees as the education establishment’s overreliance on tests. “While I am not happy certainly at the way things have turned out, at the same time, it is absolutely the board’s authority to move in a direction that they see fit,” Starr said. “I am a superintendent of schools. I hold no illusions about longevity in the job or anything else.” Montgomery County is a consistently high-achieving district with improving graduation rates and strong SAT scores. County officials familiar with school board deliberations told The Washington Post that Starr’s exit was not the result of a single issue; instead, a series of perceived missteps added to a simmering concern about Starr’s ability to build on the success of Jerry D. Weast, who retired in 2011 after a 12-year run.

7am – B Debbie Wasserman Schultz Tries to Walk Back Comments on Jewish ‘Intermarriage.’ (Mediaite) — Democratic National Committee chairman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is now trying to walk back comments she made against the “problem” of intermarriage of Jewish people with gentiles. “We have the problem of assimilation. We have the problem of intermarriage,” said in leaked audio obtained last week by Shark Tank blog. “We have the problem that too many generations of Jews don’t realize the importance of our institutions strengthening our community — particularly with the rise of anti-Semitism and global intolerance.” In a statement through the DNC, the Florida Democrat stepped back from those comments a bit: “I do not oppose intermarriage; in fact, members of my family, including my husband, are a product of it,” she wrote. She provided additional context: “At an annual Jewish community event in my congressional district, I spoke about my personal connection to Judaism and in a larger context about the loss of Jewish identity and the importance of connecting younger generations to the institutions and values that make up our community.”

7am – C Coke Bets on Super Milk; More Protein, Less Sugar. (AP) — Coke is coming out with premium milk that has more protein and less sugar than regular. And it's betting people will pay twice as much for it. The national rollout of Fairlife over the next several weeks marks Coca-Cola's entry into the milk case in the U.S. and is one way the world's biggest beverage maker is diversifying its offerings as Americans continue turning away from soft drinks. It also comes as people increasingly seek out some type of functional boost from their foods and drinks, whether it's more fiber, antioxidants or protein. That has left the door open for Coke step into the milk category, where the differences between options remain relatively minimal and consumption has been declining for decades. "It's basically the premiumization of milk," Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America, said at an analyst conference in November. If developed properly, Douglas said it is the type of product that "rains money." Fairlife, which Coca-Cola formed in partnership with dairy cooperative Select Milk Producers in 2012, says its milk goes through a filtration process that's akin the way skim milk is made. Filters are used to separate the various components in milk. Then, more of the favorable components are added, while the less desirable ones are kept out. The result is a drink that Fairlife says is lactose free and has 50 percent more protein, 30 percent more calcium and 50 percent less sugar than regular milk.

7am – D INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst

Moussaoui Calls Saudi Princes Patrons of Al Qaeda.
Jordanian pilot's murder by ISIS met with outrage across the Middle East.
Jordan executes 2 prisoners after ISIS video shows pilot being burned alive
Obama condemns Islamic State militants for ‘viciousness and barbarity.’

7am – E Entertainment News:

‘Star Trek 3′ Begins Filming in April; Bryan Cranston Rumored for Villain Role. Accompanying the news of Star Trek 3‘s filming start date is a report from Film Divider that claims to offer new information about the new characters that will be introduced in Lin’s film. Film Divider‘s sources also indicate that the new villain will be a male character and that the studio is looking for a Bryan Cranston-esque actor to play him. In fact, Cranston himself has apparently “had words” about taking the role, but what those words were and which direction they took remains a mystery for now. If Cranston does get the role then hopefully he’ll get a bit more screen time than he was given in Godzilla. Star Trek 3 opens in U.S. theaters on July 8th, 2016.
Jimmy Fallon brings 'Tonight Show' to LA, 'Fresh Prince'-style. Kicking off a week-long run of "The Tonight Show" in Los Angeles, Jimmy Fallon and company brilliantly re-create the theme song from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Bonus: Carlton dance. Now, this is the story all about how Jimmy Fallon got flipped-turned upside down. And he'd like to take a minute, if that's OK, and tell you how he brought "The Tonight Show" back out to LA. Jimmy Fallon kicked off the show's week-long stint in Los Angeles on Monday with an incredible adaptation of the opening theme song from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Fallon and company re-created every scene in the "Fresh Prince" theme song, from Fallon doing graffiti on a wall, to the basketball game where a couple of guys are up to no good, to an auntie figure sending the crew off to LA. A few original cast members from "Fresh Prince" appear throughout the video, including DJ Jazzy Jeff picking Fallon up in the cab to head out to LA and Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) doing his customary Carlton dance. The result is a perfect tribute to one of my favorite TV shows growing up. Check out the video for yourself at the top of this post, and just you try to resist getting up and doing the Carlton dance along with Fallon and Ribeiro.

8am – A INTERVIEW – MARK LEVIN – Host of The Mark Levin Show on WMAL, weekdays from 6 to 9 pm

Virginia weighs joining convention of states effort to rein in federal powers
Palin joins push for 'Convention of States' to throttle Obama
Obama condemns Islamic State militants for ‘viciousness and barbarity.’

8am – B Measles News:

Officials confirm measles case in DC. WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia officials say there’s been a confirmed case of measles in the city. Michael Czin, a spokesman for Mayor Muriel Bowser, says the case is isolated and has been linked to international travel. He says it’s unrelated to a recent outbreak of measles in California that is believed to have started at Disneyland. The case was confirmed by the city’s health department. Measles was last reported in the district in 2012. Czin says the mayor is encouraging residents to get vaccinated against the disease.
Jon Stewart Blames Measles Outbreak on ‘Science Denying Affluent Calif. Liberals’ – ‘Look, California, if your crazy wellness ideas only affected you, I would be fine with that’
Rand Paul Trolls ‘Liberal Media’ With Twitter Pic Of Him Getting Vaccinated. (Daily Caller) — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was less than happy with how the media reported on his comments to “The Laura Ingraham Show” that while he personally believed in vaccination, he didn’t believe the government should make it mandatory. So the potential Republican presidential nominee took to Twitter to show his support for vaccines firsthand… and to take a shot at the “liberal media.”

Senator Rand Paul @SenRandPaul: Ironic: Today I am getting my booster vaccine. Wonder how the liberal media will misreport this? 5:30 PM – 3 Feb 2015

Despite Paul’s dig against the media, New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters was also present, and also tweeted out a picture of the event. Peters’ own report on the anti-vaccine hub bub and the Republican Party was embarrassingly riddled with errors.

8am – C White Flint Mall has closed its doors; Lord & Taylor only store still in business. And then there was one. The Gazette reports that White Flint Mall has closed its doors. Lord & Taylor remains the only store in business at the Rockville Pike shopping center as the property’s owners get ready to convert it into a town center. Stores and restaurants there have been closing, one by one, for more than a year. Some of the last to close were P.F. Chang’s, which closed in January, and Dave & Buster’s, which closed last summer. Lord & Taylor has been fighting the changes, unsuccessfully suing owners Lerner Enterprises LLC and The Tower Cos. The mall overhaul is a trend happening around the country, as aging enclosed malls give way to more modern, open-air town centers.

8am – D Do you feel guilty about using the bathroom of a business and not buying anything?

TOMORROW: Blair Lee