Joe diGenova, Susan Ferrechio and Trevor Matich joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, October 5, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

5am – A/B     Will W and Bill Clinton Help Jeb and Hillary On the Campaign Trail?

• George W. Bush to fundraise for Jeb in Washington. President George W. Bush will return to Washington this month to appear at a fundraiser for his brother’s presidential campaign, according to a fundraising schedule obtained by The Hill. The Oct. 29 fundraiser for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will take place at a private residence, an email to Bush supporters shows. That October schedule includes two other appearances by the former president: a luncheon in Arkansas scheduled for Friday, and an evening reception in Denver on Oct. 18. Jeb Bush’s son, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, is also planning on headlining two events for young professionals in Washington toward the beginning of October.
• Jeb! at 4%: Will he drop out? A new poll by Pew Research released Friday shows that former Florida Gov. Jeb! Bush (R) may be going the way of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R). The polling report found that Bush’s support among Republican primary voters has withered to a mere 4 percent. To make matter worse, among the majority of likely GOP voters who consider themselves conservatives, only 2 percent said they would vote for Bush.
• Hillary Clinton campaign sending Bill out on the trail. Hopes ex-president can energize blacks, Hispanics. They’d kept him off the trail for months, but Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign is finally deploying former President Bill Clinton, accepting the political risks he brings as worthy tradeoff if he can shore up support for his wife among longtime Democrats and build enthusiasm among Hispanic and black voters.

5am – D/E     OKC teachers union backs middle school teacher’s claim of unruly students. Teacher says students spit on her, cursed at her, called her names

OKLAHOMA CITY —The Oklahoma City Federation of Teachers is backing up claims made by a Roosevelt Middle School teacher that she was forced to put up with unruly students while the district did nothing to help her. Glenna Thomas said she quit after some of her seventh-grade students spit on her, cursed at her and called her bad names. Now she could lose her teaching credentials for doing so. Union president Ed Allen said this is not an isolated incident. “We’re hearing those stories every day,” he said, claiming that the district wants teachers to deal with the problem to keep suspension numbers down. “They’ll deny it, but they’re sending messages to principals: Hold down suspension, hold down referrals that might lead to a suspension and essentially not deal with the problem.” Parent Elmira Bustillos said she’s heard of bad behavior at RMS, but it’s gotten a little better. She said the district needs to step up enforcement.

6am – A/B/C Chaffetz officially announces bid to be next House speaker, challenge McCarthy. (Fox New) Utah GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz on Sunday officially announced his bid to become the next House speaker, challenging next-in-line Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and vowing to “bridge the divide” that has roiled the chamber’s GOP caucus. “I’m offering myself as an alternative,” Chaffetz told “Fox News Sunday.” “I think I can bridge that divide.” Speculation on Capitol Hill that Chaffetz would make a challenge began Friday. It was the latest turn in the scramble for House GOP leadership positions since Speaker John Boehner resigned Sept. 25, amid pressure from the Republican caucus’ most conservative members.

6am – C         Sports News:

• Kirk Cousins’ late TD pass lifts Redskins over Eagles. LANDOVER, Md. — Kirk Cousins still has thrown for more interceptions than touchdown passes in the NFL. And it’s going to take some work to get his 4-9 record as a starter above the .500 mark.At least the earnest, soft-spoken, fourth-year quarterback for the Washington Redskins now has a signature victory, thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback and a zero-turnover performance. Cousins capped a 90-yard drive with a go-ahead, 4-yard TD toss to Pierre Garcon with 26 seconds left Sunday, lifting the Redskins past the Philadelphia Eagles 23-20 on Sunday.
• Max Scherzer joins rare company with second no-hitter of 2015. NEW YORK — Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer struggled to find words after joining some of baseball’s immortals. That’s because Scherzer had just become the sixth pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in a season when he completed the feat against the New York Mets on Saturday night in a 2-0 victory. He previously had no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 20.

6am – D         US officials investigate airstrike in Afghanistan that killed at least 19 at Doctors Without Borders hospital. U.S. officials have launched an investigation after 12 local staff members of Doctors Without Borders and at least seven patients, three of them children, were killed after an explosion near their hospital in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that may have been caused by a nearby airstrike.In a statement, the international charity said the “sustained bombing” took place Saturday at 2:10 a.m local time. Afghan forces backed by U.S. airstrikes have been fighting to dislodge Taliban insurgents who overran Kunduz on Monday.

6am – E         Gun News:

LeBron James: ‘There’s no room for guns’

• LeBron James said he believes “there’s no room for guns” during a media session at Cleveland Cavaliers training camp on Friday, one day after a fatal shooting of a five-month-old in Cleveland.
• Fact checking President Obama on gun control and gun violence. WASHINGTON (WJLA) — Thursday morning’s mass shooting at a community college in Oregon shocked and saddened America. It also frustrated President Barack Obama. “Each time we see one of these shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough,” said the President, just hours after the shooting. “It cannot be this easy for someone who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun.” The President then said this. “We know that states with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths.” But is that true? The I-Team learned it depends on how you analyze the data. In our area, D.C. and Maryland have stricter gun laws than Virginia. But 2014 FBI crime statistics show Virginia has the lowest rate of gun murders at 2.7 per 100,000 residents. Maryland and D.C., despite tougher gun laws, have higher gun murder rates – 3.5 and 11.1 respectively.

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

• Supreme Court Returns Today: Cases To Watch. The United States Supreme Court opens a new term Monday, and, as always, many of the most contentious issues facing the country — including abortion, birth control coverage, public employee unions, affirmative action in higher education, voter participation — are likely to be before the court.
• Kevin McCarthy’s Benghazi gaffe roils the House speaker race. Washington (CNN)Kevin McCarthy’s run to be the next House speaker is showing signs of trouble. Emboldened conservatives are seizing on McCarthy’s recent stumbles, insisting that he continues to lack the 218 votes necessary to secure the speakership on the House floor, and word spread Friday that Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah might join the race.

7am – B         2016 News:

• George W. Bush to fundraise for Jeb in Washington.
• Jeb! at 4%: Will he drop out?
• Hillary Clinton campaign sending Bill out on the trail.      
• Hillary makes appearance on SNL

7am – C         Weather News:

• Seven dead as Hurricane Joaquin brings chaotic flooding, record-breaking downpours to South Carolina. (NY Daily News) — Seven people were killed as historic flooding conjured by Hurricane Joaquin swept past South Carolina over the weekend, even as the storm unexpectedly left most of the East Coast largely unscathed. Record downpours near Charleston have left the region grappling with power outages and rainfall ranging from seven to more than 20 inches as of Sunday night.
• Joaquin weakening as it passes Bermuda, buffeting UK territory with heavy winds, rain. (AP) – HAMILTON, Bermuda — Bermuda was lashed Sunday by gusting winds and pelting rains from a weakening Hurricane Joaquin as its spinning center tracked just west of the wealthy financial haven and tourist destination after plowing through the Bahamas as a major storm. Residents of the mid-Atlantic British dependency mostly hunkered down at home after securing patio furniture and stocking up on gas and batteries as the hurricane whipped the mid-Atlantic British territory. All flights to L.F. Wade International Airport were cancelled and ferry service was closed due to rough seas. Emergency service agencies were placed on alert and there were scattered power outages by early evening.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – TREVOR MATICH — Redskins elite long snapper and WMAL’s Redskins analyst

• RECAP: Philadelphia Eagles 20 vs 23 Washington Redskins

7am – E         Entertainment News;

• Four more Transformers films planned over 10 years, says Hasbro Studios president. There’ll be at least four more Transformers films, according to the president of Hasbro Studios. Talking at a convention in Cannes in the south of France, Steven Davis said the next 10 years of the series have already been mapped out by a team of writers. “We decided that we wanted to plot out the next 10 years of the Transformers franchise,” he said.”Stay tuned – Transformers 5 is on its way. And six and seven and eight.”
• “The Martian” blasts off to near record October box office opening, pulling in $55 million. “The Martian” blasted off to near record numbers this weekend with an estimated box office opening of $55 million in the U.S. The Matt Damon-led space thriller is just short of another film about astronauts lost in space, “Gravity,” which holds the record for biggest October opening with a $55.7 million debut in 2013. When final box office numbers come in on Monday, however, there’s a chance that 20th Century Fox’s “Martian” could take the record outright.
• CBS rebooting ‘MacGyver’ for TV, Following word that 20th Century Fox Television is rebooting “The A-Team,” CBS is bringing MacGyver back to the small screen, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Based on the Richard Dean Anderson starrer that ran for seven seasons on ABC, the CBS take is described as a reimagining of the television series of the same name, following a 20-something MacGyver as he gets recruited into a clandestine organization where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – Chief Congressional Correspondent for the Washington Examiner

• Chaffetz officially announces bid to be next House speaker, challenge McCarthy

8am – B/C     Taking calls on Chaffetz running for speaker.

8am – D/E     Oregon Sheriff Still Won’t Say College Shooter’s Name

“You will not hear anyone from this law enforcement operation use his name.” Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin still refused to name the shooter who had killed nine people and wounded nine on Thursday at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The gunman has been identified elsewhere as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer. But speaking at a Friday morning press conference, Hanlin said, “Again you will not hear anyone from this law enforcement operation use his name,” Hanlin said.

TOMORROW: VA Del. Tim Hugo, Amanda Carpenter and Larry Kudlow