Washington Post's Erik Wemple, Dr. Alveda King, Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, Paris correspondent Erin McLaughlin and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday.

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Mornings on the Mall

Friday, January 9, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

5am – A         DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW — ERIK WEMPLE – Reporter, The Washington Post

• Washington Post opinions section publishes controversial Charlie Hebdo cartoon. (Washington Post/Erik Wemple) — Erik Wemple writes the Erik Wemple blog, where he reports and opines on media organizations of all sorts. “In Thursday’s print edition, the Washington Post op-ed page is publishing the controversial cartoon of Charlie Hebdo magazine spoofing the prophet Muhammad — the very piece of satire that prompted the 2011 fire-bombing of the publication’s Paris offices. (See a PDF of the full page here.) The cartoon depicted Muhammad saying, “100 lashes of the whip if you don’t die laughing.” That drawing and many others that align with its edgy and often offensive spirit may have motivated terrorists on Wednesday to unleash a heinous and deadly attack that claimed the lives of 12 people. According to reports on the attack, the perpetrators could be heard saying, ‘We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.’”

5am – B/C     Latest Developments on hostage situation in France:

• Suspected hostage-taking as French track shooting suspects. PARIS (AP) — Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport has closed two runways to arrivals amid a massive operation to seize two suspects in the storming of a satirical newspaper. An airport spokesman said the flight diversions are not affecting schedules. At least three helicopters hovered above the town of Dammartin-en-Goele, near to the airport. A French police official said the pair of brothers suspected in the attack in which 12 people died appear to have taken a hostage.
• Police: Newspaper attack suspects appear to have hostage. (USA Today) — PARIS — Two brothers suspected of killing 12 people in an attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday appear to have taken a hostage, a French police official said Friday. Xavier Castaing, chief spokesman for Paris regional police, spoke as a massive operation unfolded in the town of Dammartin-en-Goele, about 25 miles northeast of Paris, where the brothers were believed to be holed up. Helicopters and hundreds of security forces accompanied by ambulances have arrived in the town, which is around 7 miles from Charles de Gaulle Airport. Earlier Friday, the suspects, Cherif Kouachi, 32, and his older brother Said, 34, stole a Peugeot car and were on the move again, a French security official told the Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because situation was still developing. Shots were fired. Thousands of police officers are involved in a manhunt for the brothers. The two were on a U.S. no-fly watch list, said a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak on the case publicly. One of them, Said, traveled to Yemen in 2011, raising the prospect that he had training or direction, the official said.
• Paris shooting suspects surrounded. (BBC) — French police have surrounded a building in a northern town where two men suspected of the Charlie Hebdo massacre are said to have a hostage. Shots were fired and several people are said to have been wounded as events unfolded in Dammartin-en-Goele, 35km (22 miles) from Paris. The development comes nearly 48 hours after the attack on the magazine's office, when 12 people were shot dead. The heavily armed gunmen fled Paris by car after the attack. The attackers, who shouted Islamist slogans, are believed to have been angered by the satirical magazine's irreverent depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. They are said to have shouted "We are al-Qaeda, Yemen", an apparent reference to the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group (AQAP).
• Charlie Hebdo will publish one million copies next week with help from Google-backed fund. (BBC) — In the wake of yesterday's tragic attack, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is planning its biggest print run ever. Hebdo's usual circulation is around 30,000, but the surviving staff are planning to print 1 million copies of next week's run, in a gesture that's equal parts defiance and grief. Eight members of the magazine's staff were killed in the attack, alongside four other victims. The magazine has solicited contributions from journalists and cartoonists across Europe to fill the pages of the upcoming issue. To fund the unprecedented print run, Hebdo is getting help from some unexpected places. The Fund for Digital Innovation (funded by Google but controlled by an independent trade group) has donated 250,000 euro (nearly $300,000), while French newspapers have pledged an equal amount. A number of Hebdo's distribution partners have also agreed to work without charge. One of the magazine's writers described the situation on French television: "It’s very hard. We are all suffering, with grief, with fear, but we will do it anyway because stupidity will not win."

5am – D         Congress News:

• House passes 40-hour workweek for Obamacare; just 12 Democrats back change. (Washington Times) — Congress took its first swipes at Obamacare on Thursday with the House approving a bill to cancel the law’s 30-hour workweek provision, though only a dozen Democrats bucked President Obama on the vote. Republicans set the showdown as an initial test of how many Democrats would be willing to defect against a lame-duck president and after the GOP relentlessly attacked Obamacare in November’s election campaigns, riding those attacks to big gains. The legislation would repeal the provision that defines the 30-hour-per-week work threshold that determines when businesses have to face the health insurance coverage mandate. Critics say it scraps the traditional 40-hour workweek and takes pay out of Americans’ pockets because some employers are cutting hours to below 30 a week to get around the law.
• U.S. Speaker Boehner says doesn't like being called 'spineless.'  WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday he doesn't like being called "spineless" or a "squish" by critics, and he vowed to prove his mettle to lawmakers who bopposed his re-election earlier this week. Boehner was re-elected Speaker of the House on Tuesday even as 25 members of his own Republican party declined to support him, the biggest such intra-party rebellion against a speaker candidate since 1859. His detractors, many of them on the right wing of his party, say Boehner is too prone to compromise with Democrats. Boehner said that portrayal is false. "During my years here when I voted, I have the eighth most conservative voting record in the Congress. And it does pain me to be described as spineless or a squish," he told reporters.
• GOP hopes to force Obama's hand on Keystone. (Fox News) — It took just a few hours for the new Republican-controlled Congress to elicit its first veto threat from President Obama, dashing initial hopes for bipartisanship and cementing the status of the Keystone XL pipeline as Washington's reigning political football. To be sure, the president's opposition to a bill approving the project is hardly surprising given his past statements. But the decision to issue a formal veto threat this week underscores the raw politics that surround Keystone after six years of regulatory limbo.

5am – E         Pentagon to close 15 European bases. (Washington Examiner) — The Pentagon said Thursday it will close 15 bases in Europe to save an expected $500 million a year by the early 2020s after a two-year review of infrastructure requirements on the continent. The European Infrastructure Consolidation process will better position the 67,000 U.S. troops in Europe to meet challenges that have emerged in the year since Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and menaced NATO allies in Eastern Europe, said Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. "The savings that we will be gaining in this process will allow us to maintain a strong force structure into the future," he said. Defense officials also hope the consolidation will ease concerns in Congress, which has rejected the Pentagon's efforts to close more U.S. bases, partly because some lawmakers believe the U.S. infrastructure in Europe is too large.

6am – A/B/C Obama to propose two free years of community college for students. (Politico) — President Barack Obama will need the approval of Congress to realize his proposal for making two years of community college free for students. So far, that plan doesn’t have an official price tag — other than “significant,” according to White House officials. If all 50 states participate, the proposal could benefit 9 million students each year and save students an average of $3,800 in tuition, the White House said. But administration officials insisted on a call with reporters Thursday evening that “this is a proposal with bipartisan appeal.” Case in point: Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, whose brainchild Tennessee Promise program strongly influenced Obama’s proposal. Beginning this year, any high school graduate in that state is eligible for two years of free community college tuition under the Tennessee Promise. Obama, alongside Vice President Joe Biden and second lady Jill Biden, will tout his proposal dubbed “America’s College Promise” during a visit Pellissippi Community College in Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday.

6am – D/E     FCPS: Buses Wouldn’t Start This Morning. (WTOP/Jan 8) — Fairfax County Public Schools decided early on Thursday to close for the day because many buses would not run in the near-zero morning temperatures, the school system said. On Wednesday, the system had originally planned a two-hour delay for Thursday as temperatures were expected to be close to zero this morning.

Garza Addresses 'Challenging Circumstances' for Fairfax Co. Schools. #CloseFCPS trended worldwide on Twitter after schools did not close on January 6.  (NBC Washington) — Fairfax County Public Schools remained closed Thursday following a controversial decision to stay open Tuesday despite inclement weather.  Notice of the closure was not posted on the schools' website until 7:10 a.m.  Superintendent Karen Garza addressed the inconvenience caused by the late announcement in a budget meeting Thursday morning.  "We recognize that any kind of change beyond what was reported is cause for angst and certainly inconvenience both for our parents, our students and our staff," she said. "But we had to err on the side of caution today primarily due to what are being reported as really dangerous weather conditions outside due to the frigid cold air."

7am – A         INTERVIEW — DR. ALVEDA KING – director of African-American Outreach for Priests for Life and the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — discussed her thoughts on the movie Selma, her appearance at the annual conservative conference Turning the Tides 2015 in Annapolis and reflected on the Martin Luther King Jr Day this month and the state of race relations.

7am – B         Computer chaos feared over 2015's leap second. (The Independent) – The year 2015 will have an extra second — which could wreak havoc on the infrastructure powering the Internet. At 11:59 p.m. on June 30, clocks will count up all the way to 60 seconds. That will allow the Earth's spin to catch up with atomic time. The Earth's spin is gradually slowing down, by about two thousandths of a second per day, but atomic clocks are constant. That means that occasionally years have to be lengthened slightly, to allow the slowing Earth to catch up with the constant clock. But last time it happened, in 2012, it took down much of the Internet. Reddit, Foursquare, Yelp and LinkedIn all reported problems, and so did the Linux operating system and programs using Java. The reset has happened 25 times since they were introduced in 1972, but the computer problems are getting more serious as increasing numbers of computers sync up with atomic clocks. Those computers and servers are then shown the same second twice in a row — throwing them into a panic.

7am – C         Brian and Larry discussed the latest developments on the hostage situation in Paris.

7am – D         Boston will be American bidder for 2024 Olympics. DENVER (AP) — The Olympic rings flying over Fenway Park? Could happen. U.S. Olympic leaders surprisingly cast their future with Boston on Thursday, hoping a compact, college-centric bid with a touching story to tell will overshadow the city’s well-organized protest group and convince international voters to bring the Summer Games to America after a 28-year gap. During a daylong meeting at the Denver airport, USOC board members chose Boston, with its promise of frugality, reusable venues and inspiration after its comeback from the marathon bombings, over Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington.

D.C. Loses 2024 Olympics Bid. Washington, D.C. has lost its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, with the U.S. Olympic Committee instead announcing Thursday evening that it has selected Boston. The announcement is a blow to D.C. residents and officials who were hoping to host the Summer Olympics, though D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to bring a positive perspective to the news. “Despite today’s outcome, I am proud of how the District and the region presented,” Bowser said in a statement. “I want to thank the talented and hardworking Washingtonians whose efforts got us to the short list of American cities.”

7am – E         Entertainment News:

• Tina Fey Says ‘Heck Yes’ to Bill Cosby Jokes at the Golden Globes. (Time.com) – Tina Fey has long not shied away from discussing sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby, and she won’t at the Golden Globes either. When asked by Access Hollywood about Cosby jokes at the Globes she, animatedly, said: “Oh heck yes.” Since the allegations against Cosby have grown in both number and prominence in recent months, publications have pointed out that Fey has been tackling the subject for years. Crushable highlighted a 2009 30 Rock bit that seems to reference the allegations, and over at Slate you can watch a clip of the time Fey and fellow Globes host Amy Poehler took on accusations against Cosby on Weekend Update in 2005.
• Bill Cosby Jokes That Woman Should Be Careful Drinking Around Him. (NBC News) — Bill Cosby jokingly warned a woman in the audience during a show in Canada Thursday night to be careful drinking around him. Cosby made the remark at his second performance in a row after a string of cancellations that followed sexual assault allegations from more than 15 women. Some of the women accused Cosby of drugging them by slipping something in their drinks before he assaulted them. A woman who got up from one of the front rows and walked past the stage was asked by Cosby where she was going. When she answered that she was going to the lobby to grab a drink Cosby responded: "You have to be careful about drinking around me." A few minutes later a heckler yelled at Cosby that he was a rapist. Cosby stood up as the crowd started to boo the man and asked them not to respond. "No, no, stop," he said, waving his hands. The man was removed from the theater by a police officer. Cosby later addressed the disruption — the first at a show since the allegations surfaced — in a statement.
• Piers Morgan Rips Phylicia Rashad for Defending Bill Cosby: "Reprehensible." (Us magazine) — TV talk turns ugly. Piers Morgan sounded off on the ongoing Bill Cosby sexual assault scandal on the Thursday, Jan. 8 episode of The Meredith Vieira Show. The Celebrity Apprentice winner, 49, spoke about Phylicia Rashad's recent comments in which she defended her former on-screen husband against rape allegations. "How many [women] have there been?” the former CNN host asked Vieira. "Twenty-five? 30? All saying exactly the same thing. All describing a very similar pattern of drug and sex related abuse by one of America's biggest stars and I don’t think it's conscionable for anyone right now to be employing Bill Cosby while these allegations remain unresolved. He’s going on tour." (Indeed, Cosby got a standing ovation at his first performance in Canada since November on Jan. 7.) He continued railing against Rashad. "The trashing of these women now by people, like this lady, who was his on-screen wife, I find it pretty reprehensible," Morgan remarked. "She’s entitled to [defend him] and I’m entitled to find that reprehensible."
• HBO sets return date for 'Thrones,' 'Veep,' 'Valley' #April12. (USA Today) — PASADENA, Calif.—Mark your calendars: HBO has set returns dates for new seasons of Game of Thrones, Veep and Silicon Valley. All three shows will return Sunday, April 12, the network announced at the Television Critics Association late Thursday. Thrones, the highest-rated series in HBO's history, is back for a fifth season; Veep, starring Emmy-winning Julia Louis-Dreyfus, returns for its fourth; and Silicon Valley, a satire about the world of high-tech, will air a second season of 10 episodes. The next batch of original series will follow the conclusions of Girls, Togetherness and Looking, all premiering Sunday.
• Kristen Stewart Might Have a Girlfriend So Let's Officially Give Up on Her & Rob, Shall We? (The Stir – Café Mom) — In case you've been wondering what Kristen Stewart is up to while her ex-boyfriend Robert Pattinson indulges in PDA sessions with singer FKA Twigs, wonder no more. KStew and her galchum/galpal/female pal, etc., Alicia Cargile, who reportedly lives with her, took a vacation to Hawaii. Oh, and they were photographed appearing to kiss and hold hands. So, erm, there's that.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — LT COL TONY SHAFFER — a CIA trained former senior intelligence officer and the New York Times bestselling author of Operation "Dark Heart: Spycraft an Special Operations on the Frontlines of Afghanistan – And The Path to Victory."   His latest book is The Last Line. He is a senior fellow with both the London Center for Policy Research and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies.  Shaffer analyzed the latest on the hostage situation and the problem of terrorism in Europe.

8am – B         INTERVIEW – ERIN MCLAUGHLIN – International Correspondent Located in Paris

• Paris Terror Attack: 2nd Hostage Situation Reported in France
• Cornered French suspects vow to die as martyrs

8am – C         After 2nd crash in 5 days, DDOT says streetcar accidents are expected. WASHINGTON (WJLA) – We are less than two weeks away from when former Mayor Vincent Gray said the D.C. streetcar would be carrying passengers. Now, the troubled project is having more problems that could further delay its opening. In the last five days, the streetcar has been in two crashes, the latest being Wednesday at the intersection of H Street and Florida Avenue NE. The D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) says these accidents are expected and not too concerning. Others disagree. “They’re always in the way,” commented H Street resident John Bynum. “You have to wait until they go by. It’s going to be hard and cause accidents.” The last week for the D.C. streetcar has not gone smoothly. On Sunday, one crashed into a car. On Wednesday, the scene was similar. DDOT tells 7 On Your Side since October the streetcar has been involved in eight accidents—though Metropolitan Police have not faulted the streetcars for any of them. “They can’t move around like buses can,” said another resident. “They can’t change lanes.” Reggie Sanders with DDOT says accidents are just an unfortunate part of the process.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – BRET BAIER – Anchor of Special Report on Fox News Channel, weekdays at 6 pm

• U.S. Speaker Boehner says doesn't like being called 'spineless'
• GOP hopes to force Obama's hand on Keystone.
• Paris Terror Attack: 2nd Hostage Situation Reported in France