Mornings on the Mall 02.10.15

Amb. John Bolton, Montgomery County Education Association's Doug Prouty and Larry Kudlow joined WMAL Tuesday morning.

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

5am – A War powers request this week: The White House is expected to send Congress a proposal for the use of military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by Wednesday, according to two congressional aides.

5am – D NBC’s Credibility Continues To Go Down the Drain:

Melissa Harris-Perry to Eric Holder – 'Would You Quack For Us?' In an interview with Eric Holder, MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry told him she called him "The Duck," and then asked Holder to "quack for us." Harris-Perry said, "You know, we call you the duck, in nerdland, we call you the duck. In nerdland, we say you have a very placid and even way of presenting, but you are just working for justice underneath. Would you quack for us?" Holder responded, "Well I'm not sure I want to do that, but I like the analogy."
Lester Holt briefly addresses Brian Williams' absence from 'NBC Nightly News'. (NY Daily News) — The substitute anchor started the newscast by saying he was filling in and then told viewers Williams' was 'too close to the news.' All we learned from watching Lester Holt substitute for Brian Williams on “NBC Nightly News” Monday is that Williams wasn’t there. Holt paused briefly in the middle of a fast-paced newscast to say, “We want to take a minute to tell you where Brian Williams is tonight.” Then he didn’t. He reiterated the statement Williams had circulated at NBC, saying he had become “too close to the news” and would “be off while the issue is dealt with.”
Sharyl Attkisson on Brian Williams: These Anchors Are Surrounded by "Yes-Men" Who Won't Tell Them The Hard Truths

5am – E INTERVIEW – CHARLIE GISCHLER – Spokesperson – Maryland State Highway Administration – gave the latest news about the slick and icy roads in Maryland.

6am – A/B/C Gay marriage comes to Alabama over chief judge’s objections. (Washington Post) — Judicial defiance in Alabama: Same-sex marriages begin, but most counties refuse. MOBILE, Ala. — On the day that same-sex unions became legal in Alabama, local officials in dozens of counties on Monday defied a federal judge’s decision and refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, casting the state into judicial chaos. Gay couples were able to get licenses in about a dozen places, including Birmingham, Huntsville and a few other counties where probate judges complied with the judge’s decision. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled early Monday that it would deny Alabama’s request to put the marriages on hold. But in the majority of counties, officials said they would refuse to license same-sex marriages or stop providing licenses altogether, confronting couples — gay and heterosexual — with locked doors and shuttered windows. Many of the state’s 68 probate judges mounted their resistance to the federal decision at the urging of the firebrand chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Roy Moore. He is best known for refusing more than a decade ago to comply with a court order to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from the state Supreme Court’s offices. In Mobile, about 10 gay couples who had expected to be granted licenses first thing in the morning found the marriage-license window closed indefinitely. Gay and lesbian couples began marrying in Alabama after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the state's bid to stop the unions. Same-sex couples lined up outside the main courthouse in Birmingham, where judges and ministers performed same-sex-marriage ceremonies. “We’re disgusted with it, but we’re dealing with it,” said Jim Strawser, 51, who with his partner, John Humphrey, had mounted the successful legal challenge against Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage. A federal judge in Mobile ruled in their case last month that Alabama must allow same-sex marriages, striking down its ban and setting the stage for it to become the 37th state, plus the District of Columbia, to permit such unions and the second in the Deep South. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in April over whether there is a constitutional right for gay couples to marry nationwide.

6am – D/E The Rise of Green Burials: Baltimore County zoning bill could pave the way for county's first 'conservation burial ground.' (Baltimore Sun) — Under the shadow of tall trees, snow blankets Doug Carroll and Deirdre Smith's property in rural northern Baltimore County. Leaves crunch underfoot as their dog, Dewey, bounds down pathways and through the meadow grass, stiff in the cold winter air. One day, the couple hopes to share their tranquil, rolling lands with families in grief. They plan to convert the farm fields and forests into a natural burial ground — a place where bodies can quickly decompose and return to the earth. There would be no large headstones, no concrete burial vaults, no embalming. "Hopefully this is a celebration of people's lives and values," Smith said. "I hope it won't look too different than it looks now." The couple's proposal — which needs county government approval to move forward — reflects a nationwide movement for natural burials. Nationally, about 2 percent of families choose such options, said James Olson, chairman of the National Funeral Directors Association's work group on green burials. He's been offering them for about 15 years at his own funeral home, Olson Funeral Home in Sheboygan, Wisc., and educates other funeral directors about the option. "The families that are looking for this truly live the green lifestyle. They tread lightly on the earth and want to tread lightly in death," he said.

7am – A/B/C Michelle Obama frowns on popular mac and cheese.

(Boston Herald) – How detached and elitist is Michelle Obama? She took to the pages of Cooking Light magazine (yes, there is such a thing) to torch an American family dinner classic — powdered mac and cheese. According to the article, “The family’s former personal chef had taken a stand against the boxed variety, which includes processed cheese powder among the ingredients.” Don’t you just hate that? If your personal chef allows your meals to endure such pollution, you are not getting your trust-fund-money’s worth. The First Lady of Fromage was very impressed with his analysis and the pages of Cooking Light are bursting with her colorful and insightful observations: “He said there’s nothing wrong with mac and cheese, but it’s got to be real food.”
Michelle also made a creepy big brother argument in the Cooking Light article: "If you don’t like the doctor, if you don’t like government, if you don’t like folks messing with your life, the best thing to do is make sure you’re healthy. Because that’s going to increase your odds for making sure that you don’t have to deal with the system."

7am – D INTERVIEW – AMB. JOHN BOLTON – former UN Ambassador

War powers request this week: The White House is expected to send Congress a proposal for the use of military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by Wednesday, according to two congressional aides.
Obama, Merkel display ‘tactical disagreements’ over Ukraine. The option of supplying Kiev with “lethal defensive weapons” is on the table, Barack Obama said in a joint press conference with Angela Merkel. However, the German chancellor reiterated there is no “military solution” to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. “The possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that’s being examined,” the US president said during a joint press conference with Merkel in Washington.
Putin blames West for Ukraine crisis during trade visit to Egypt. (RT) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the US and the European Union for what he called their “expansionist policies” for the crisis in Ukraine. The Russian leader was speaking to journalists in Cairo where he has begun a two day trip to forge economic and policital ties. Putin once again denied direct Russian involvement in the conflict and warned Kyiv to stop its military operations in the east and to hold talks with the rebels. Russia suffering under Western sanctions over its support for Ukrainian separatists has its own economic problems. The trip to Egypt reflects Putin’s determination to show he has other friends.
Netanyahu rejects criticism: I am determined to address Congress. A bad deal is taking shape with Iran while people are concerned with protocol, prime minister says; Obama: 'Very real differences' exist between me and Netanyahu on Iran issue. (Haaretz) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he is determined to address the U.S. Congress on Iran's nuclear program. Netanyahu rejected the criticism in the United States and Israel, saying that "while some are busy with protocol or politics, a bad deal with Iran is taking shape."
Amb. John Bolton’s Pittsburgh Tribune op-ed: The Obama administration fears the kind of plain speaking that Netanyahu will deliver to Congress. “When Speaker of the House John Boehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress on Iran's nuclear weapons program, one might have thought that America's politicians could benefit from participating in a serious discussion about a menacing global threat from the leader of a gravely endangered U.S. ally.”

7am – E Lost and Found:

Magna Carta found in Sandwich, England 'worth in the millions.' SANDWICH, England (CNN) — Just days after four Magna Cartas were united for the first time in 800 years at the British Library in London, another ancient version of the document has been discovered by chance in a medieval coastal town in England. Mark Bateson, an archivist in Sandwich, southern England, found the previously unknown version of the Magna Carta — which established the principle that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law — after historian Nicholas Vincent had asked him to look for a separate document dealing with a local forest that he was researching. After rummaging through a scrapbook of council archives, Bateson found the Forest Charter, a document issued by King Henry III in 1217, as well as a tattered page that he thought looked like the Magna Carta. "He wasn't really aware of the fact that they were either rare or that this one was indeed what it purported to be. I think, from his point of view, it was all a bit of a shock," said Vincent, professor of medieval history at the University of East Anglia.
Forgotten Apollo moon artifacts found in Neil Armstrong's closet. (CNET) — A hidden treasure trove of gear flown on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon sees the light of day after Neil Armstrong's widow shares the find with the Smithsonian. Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon when he traveled 240,000 miles on NASA's Apollo 11 mission in 1969. He passed away in 2012, but left behind a legacy full of space, adventure and scientific inspiration. He also left behind a wealth of physical materials related to his travels. A purse full of rare artifacts is now in the spotlight as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum shares details of a hidden piece of space history. The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, a NASA archive dedicated to preserving and sharing information about NASA's moon missions, has a page dedicated to a white cloth bag that Carol Armstrong, the astronaut's widow, found in a closet after his death. The contents of the bag are on loan to the Smithsonian. The white cloth container was immediately identifiable as a Temporary Stowage Bag, also called a McDivitt Purse by astronauts. It was designed to attach inside the Lunar Module. It opens at the top like a clutch purse or an old-time doctor's bag. The bag contained useful items including a camera, waist tether, light bulb assembly, helmet tie-down strap, netting, a mirror and an emergency wrench. Transcripts from the mission refer to the bag, so it was known that the contents were returning to Earth with the crew. Armstrong called it "just a bunch of trash that we want to take back." Since then, Needell notes, "As far as we know, Neil has never discussed the existence of these items and no one else has seen them in the 45 years since he returned from the Moon."

8am – A INTERVIEW — DOUG PROUTY – President, Montgomery County Education Association

ABOUT MCEA: One of the largest local affiliates of the National Education Association, MCEA is a leader in efforts to build a new kind of teachers union that responds to the needs of today’s educators. We are more than 12,000 classroom teachers, guidance counselors, speech pathologists, media specialists, and other non-supervisory certified educators in the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools system.
Teachers overwhelmingly oppose later high school start times in Montgomery. Nearly half of the district’s 12,000 teachers responded to the survey, and 63 percent said they favor not changing high school bell times, the only one of seven options the school board is considering that drew a majority. More than 50 percent said they were opposed to shifting start times 20 minutes later, and more than 60 percent opposed moving bell times 35 minutes later, according to the survey results.
Montgomery County students, parents rally for later start times. WASHINGTON — 7:25 a.m. is when high school students in Montgomery County Public Schools have to report every day. On Tuesday, the Board of Education will consider whether to push that time back, and Monday, a rally was held outside the board’s offices urging members to let students sleep in. Several dozen people attended the event organized by a group of students, parents and teachers called “Save Our Sleep.” In a YouTube video, the group calls the 7:25 a.m. start time “outdated, unhealthy and dangerous,” because teens are “biologically programmed to stay up later and sleep later.” At the rally, some people carried signs that read “School Board Please! We Need More ZZzzz’s!” “Developing Minds Need Sleep” and “Help us to succeed, sleep is what we need!”

8am – B Entertainment News:

Why Rosie is leaving 'The View.' (USA Today) — It did seem a little strange that no one on The View today said a peep about the bombshell news that hit late Friday night: Rosie O'Donnell's abrupt decision to quit the show. Statements from Rosie's publicist and from ABC explained it was based on her health and her recent split from wife Michelle Rounds. But still, it's a talk show. Seemed like perfect Hot Topic fodder. Instead, Whoopi Goldberg, Nicolle Wallace and Rosie Perez chit-chatted with Rosie about Brian Williams, the Grammys and other things. So this afternoon, Rosie posted a video explaining exactly why it didn't come up. "I didn't want to talk about it," she said, in a video from her home. She basically reiterated that she's quitting for health reasons. "The truth is I had a heart attack two years ago and stress is very bad for heart attack survivors." So, "I'm minimizing my stress by leaving The View."
AMC’s ‘Better Call Saul’ Premiere Breaks Cable Record; ‘Walking Dead’ Returns With 15.6 Million Viewers. (Variety) — AMC’s “The Walking Dead” returned with monster — though not quite record-breaking — ratings on Sunday and also helped lead-out “Better Call Saul” to the best-ever cable premiere delivery in key demos. According to Nielsen estimates, “Walking Dead” averaged 15.6 million viewers and 10.1 million adults 18-49, making it the top-rated regularly scheduled entertainment series telecast of 2015 in the demo (close behind only the special post-Super Bowl episode of NBC’s “The Blacklist”). “Better Call Saul,” which shifts to its regular Monday timeslot tonight, debuted with 6.9 million viewers and 4.4 million adults 18-49.
Pre-Sale Tickets of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Higher in ‘Conservative’ and ‘Religious’ States. There’s been no shortage of controversy over “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the film based on a popular erotic and explicit book by the same name, with many Christians and conservatives speaking out against its themes. But as critiques and protests continue to emerge prior to the movie’s release next week, Fandango, a website where moviegoers can purchase feature film tickets, claims to have found something surprising in its analysis of advance ticket sales. The states where sales were much larger than expected are, in order: Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama and Louisiana, with other southern states making their way into the top 10.

8am – C Ex-Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley breaks his elbow at the gym: Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), a possible 2016 presidential candidate, broke his elbow while at the gym over the weekend. O'Malley said he had surgery at Union Memorial, a hospital in Baltimore. O'Malley is a possible longshot challenger to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, making the rounds in the past months in critical early states. It is unclear how long a "quick recovery" is, but O'Malley has plans to get back on the trail soon. He is slated to be in New Hampshire for a St. Patrick's Day event in mid-March. He then is scheduled to speak in Iowa on March 20, before returning again in April. O'Malley is not the only politician to get injured while exercising recently. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) injured his eye while exercising last month and underwent surgery to try to restore vision.

8am – D INTERVIEW – LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm

Gallup CEO: I May 'Suddenly Disappear' for Telling Truth About Obama Unemployment Rate. (Newsmax) — The head of the Gallup polling firm recently backpedaled on his claim that the official unemployment rate being trumpeted by the White House, Wall Street and the media is a "big lie." Jim Clifton, the Chairman and CEO of Gallup, recently told CNBC that he was worried he might “suddenly disappear” if he disputed the accuracy of what the U.S. government is reporting as unemployed Americans, Wall Street on Parade reported. “I think that the number that comes out of BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] and the Department of Labor is very, very accurate. I need to make that very, very clear so that I don’t suddenly disappear. I need to make it home tonight.”
Gas prices edge up as oil market improves. Global crude oil prices have jumped to about $53 a barrel from $45 late last month.

TOMORROW: KT McFarland