Chris Stigall, Robert Halstead, Kirsten Powers, KT McFarland, Tom Fitton and Chris Welch joined WMAL on Wednesday.
Mornings on the Mall
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor
Executive Producer: Heather Smith
5am – A INTERVIEW – CHRIS STIGALL – Talk Radio 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia, PA – gave the latest update on the Amtrak crash.
5am – B/C LATEST NEWS ON AMTRAK CRASH: At least 5 people are dead and dozens more injured following a train derailment in Philadelphia. The Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 was traveling from Washington to New York when it derailed north of the city of Philadelphia, Amtrak said. The cause wasn’t immediately known. Firefighters arrived to find seven cars and the train’s engine either turned over or upside down. Most of the passengers were able to escape safely. Crews had to cut through the cars to get to others.
5am – D Obama clams Fox News over poverty coverage. (USA Today) — President Obama used an anti-poverty summit Tuesday to work on one of his favorite punching bags: Fox News. Obama cited the network while arguing that some conservatives dismiss poor people as lazy “sponges” who are “leeches” on society. “I have to say that if you watch Fox News on a regular basis, it is a constant menu,” Obama told the forum at Georgetown University. “They will find folks who make me mad.” The president added: “I don’t know where they find them … They’re like, ‘I don’t want to work, I just want a free Obama phone,’ or whatever. And that becomes an entire narrative, right? That gets worked up.”
5am – E UVA dean sues Rolling Stone for defamation. (Business Insider) – Nicole Eramo, the University of Virginia associate dean of students, is bringing a defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone magazine after the publication and subsequent retraction of a controversial article about sexual assault at the college. Eramo recently spoke out in April in an open letter to the magazine, writing that she remained “forever linked to an article that has damaged my reputation and falsely portrayed the work to which I have dedicated my life.” In Rolling Stone’s article “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA,” Eramo is depicted as indifferent to UVA student Jackie’s alleged gang rape at a campus fraternity party. The Rolling Stone article claims Eramo did nothing in response to Jackie’s allegations and told the student that UVA did not publish its sexual assault data “because nobody wants to send their daughter to the rape school.” Much — if not all — of Jackie’s story has since been disproved by media reports, a police investigation, and a report by Columbia Journalism School that Rolling Stone published last month. The fraternity at the center of Rolling Stone’s article — Phi Kappa Psi — announced more than a month ago that it planned to sue the magazine. Eramo is seeking nearly $8 million in damages — $7.5 million in compensatory damages for reputational harm and $350,000 for punitive damages.
6am – A/B/C Are We Losing Our Religion in America?
•Christians drop, ‘nones’ soar in new religion portrait. (USA Today) — WASHINGTON — The United States is a significantly less Christian country than it was seven years ago. That’s the top finding — one that will ricochet through American faith, culture and politics — in the Pew Research Center’s newest report, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” released Tuesday. This trend “is big, it’s broad and it’s everywhere,” said Alan Cooperman, Pew’s director of religion research. Christianity still dominates American religious identity (70%), but the survey shows dramatic shifts as more people move out the doors of denominations, shedding spiritual connections along the way. Atheists and agnostics have nearly doubled their share of the religious marketplace, and overall indifference to religion of any sort is rising as well. Only the historically black Protestant churches have held a steady grip through the years of change. The percentage of people who describe themselves as Christians fell about 8 points — from 78.4% to 70.6%. This includes people in virtually all demographic groups, whether they are “nearing retirement or just entering adulthood, married or single, living in the West or the Bible Belt,” according to the survey report.
•One in four American Jews are losing their religion, new Pew study finds. The Pew Research Center’s newly released 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study offers a trove of data on American Jews based on interviews with 35,071 American adults, 847 of whom identified their faith as Jewish. Here are some of the more interesting findings about the Jews.
•Millennials leaving church in droves, study finds. (CNN) — almost every major branch of Christianity in the United States has lost a significant number of members, Pew found, mainly because millennials are leaving the fold. More than one-third of millennials now say they are unaffiliated with any faith, up 10 percentage points since 2007.
•Obama: Churches Should Focus More On Poverty Instead Of Abortion And Gay Marriage. (Breitbart) — President Obama suggested that people of faith should focus more on helping the poor, instead of focusing on divisive issues such as gay marriage and abortion. During a panel discussion on poverty at Georgetown University, Obama specifically referred to his own Christian faith, pointing out that he recognized the importance speaking out about the issue as president. “I think it would be powerful for our faith-based organizations to speak out on this in a more forceful fashion,” he said, admitting that his wish might sound “self-interested” because he had disagreements with Christian and Catholic organizations about gay marriage and abortion.
•Hillary On Abortion: ‘Deep-Seated Cultural Codes, Religious Beliefs And Structural Biases Have To Be Changed’ (Daily Caller) — NEW YORK — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took a feminist tone on Thursday. She told attendees at the sixth annual Women in The World Summit that “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed” for the sake of giving women access to “reproductive health care and safe childbirth.” “Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws don’t count for much if they’re not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper,” Clinton said.
•Raul Castro may join Catholic Church, he says after Pope Francis meeting. (CNN) Cuba has eased its persecution of religion in the last 23 years, but there have been few overtures suggesting the country’s executive office might be finding its faith. That changed Sunday when President Raul Castro said the teachings of Pope Francis had persuaded him not only to take a softer line on religion, but perhaps to return to the Catholic Church and begin worshipping again as he once did, growing up in Jesuit schools.
•Science Proves the Healing Power of Prayer. (NewsMax) — For the devout, there never has been any question that prayer has the power to heal. Now, more and more medical research from leading hospitals and universities across the U.S. has shown conclusively a belief in God really IS good for you, making you healthier and happier, and helping you live longer. “Studies have shown prayer can prevent people from getting sick — and when they do get sick, prayer can help them get better faster,” Duke University’s Harold G. Koenig, M.D., tells Newsmax Health. An exhaustive analysis of more than 1,500 reputable medical studies “indicates people who are more religious and pray more have better mental and physical health,” Dr. Koenig says. “And out of 125 studies that looked at the link between health and regular worship, 85 showed regular churchgoers live longer. “There’s a lot of evidence out there.” Dr. Koenig — director of Duke’s Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health and the author of several authoritative books on faith and healing — says a striking study published in the Southern Medical Journal demonstrated that prayer has a remarkable effect on patients with hearing and visual deficiencies. After prayer sessions, “They showed significant improvements based on audio and visual tests,” Dr. Koenig said. He added: “The benefits of devout religious practice, particularly involvement in a faith community and religious commitment, are that people cope better. In general, they cope with stress better, they experience greater well-being because they have more hope, they’re more optimistic, they experience less depression, less anxiety, and they commit suicide less often. “They have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, and probably better cardiovascular functioning.”
•Cardinal Dolan too ‘homophobic’ to give commencement at Catholic school, students say. Students at a Catholic university in New York have launched a petition urging administrators to disinvite Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, as the school’s commencement speaker. A petition on Change.org accuses Cardinal Dolan, who is scheduled as the commencement speaker Sunday at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, of making homophobic comments and being complicit in sexual violence, the Daily Caller reported.
6am – D INTERVIEW _ ROBERT HALSTEAD – Railroad expert and a part of the National Association of Railroad Safety Consultants and Investigators (NARSCI) – analyzed the Amtrak crash in Philadelphia.
•BIO: Mr. Halstead is a railroad operations and signaling consultant, accident investigator and reconstructionist. Expert on railway signaling matters, including the design, maintenance and testing of rail-highway grade crossings. BS-Electrical Engineering – Syracuse University. 30 years in railway operations, 9 of which were with Conrail as a Signal Design Engineer and Supervisor of Signal Construction and Maintenance – Albany Division. Planned and directed numerous “cutovers”, the extensive signal testing required when placing new signal and rail-highway grade crossing installations in service. Formerly qualified as a locomotive engineer on a shortline railroad in upstate NY. Familiar with Federal Railroad Administration rules and regulations and railway operating and safety rules compliance issues. Fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR) as a Traffic Accident Reconstructionist, recognized as an expert in Human Factors as they relate to drivers approaching rail/highway grade crossings. Certified by the Collision Safety Institute, Inc., as a Crash Data Retrieval (CDR) System Operator.
6am – E John Kerry presented with potatoes and commemorative T-shirt in Russia. (Newsweek) — US secretary of state John Kerry has been received by his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov with a smile and two baskets full of Russian produce ahead of today’s diplomatic talks between Kerry, Lavrov and Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Russian city of Sochi. Once talks began Lavrov presented Kerry with symbolic gifts of Russian produce, handing him one basket of tomatoes from Krasnodarsk and potatoes “of remote relation” to the Idaho potatoes which Kerry gave to Lavrov when the two met last year, according to deputy communications director for Lavrov’s ministry Maria Zakharova. Trade sanctions over Russia’s support of separatist rebels in Ukraine’s east has limited the trade of vegetables and other food products between the West and Russia. “Kerry will also take back with him a T-shirt with the symbol of the Great Victory to Washington,” Zakharova wrote in a post on Facebook today with a photo of Lavrov handing Kerry a shirt with symbols of the Soviet capture of Berlin in 1945.
7am – A INTERVIEW – KIRSTEN POWERS – USA Today columnist & FNC Contributor and Author of new book “The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech” – discussed her new book and the attacks on free speech at colleges and Fox News.
•BOOK: Lifelong liberal Kirsten Powers blasts the Left’s forced march towards conformity in an exposé of the illiberal war on free speech. No longer champions of tolerance and free speech, the “illiberal Left” now viciously attacks and silences anyone with alternative points of view. Powers asks, “What ever happened to free speech in America?”
7am – B CONGRESS NEWS:
•Senate Democrats block debate on major trade bill championed by White House.
•Obama supports Patriot Act changes to nix NSA phone-snooping program.
•White House threatens veto of defense bill over Guantanamo
7am – C UPDATE: Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia, Killing at Least 6 and Injuring Dozens. PHILADELPHIA — At least six people were killed and dozens more were injured when an Amtrak train carrying 243 people derailed here on Tuesday, shutting down service in the Northeast region, the authorities said. The train was headed to New York from Washington when it derailed around 9:30 p.m., officials said during a news conference late on Tuesday. Sixty-five people, including six who were in critical condition, were taken to hospitals, Philadelphia’s mayor, Michael A. Nutter, said. “It is an absolute disastrous mess,” the mayor said. “I have never seen anything like this in my life.”
7am – D INTERVIEW — KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst
•Kerry, Putin meets for talks, meeting is the first top-level U.S. visit to the country in two years.
•Andrea Mitchell: Saudi Snub So ‘In Your Face’ It Can’t Be Spun
•John Kerry presented with potatoes and commemorative T-shirt in Russia
7am – E Amtrak Train Update
8am – A INTERVIEW – TOM FITTON – JUDICIAL WATCH
•GERRYMANDER FIGHT: Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch writes in Newsmax.com about the continuing litigation that Judicial Watch is a part of to ensure that three-judge panels — and not lone judges — hear complaints of gerrymandering. Of course, the gerrymandering that he is writing about is Maryland’s.
•Discussed Judicial Watch’s latest work on Hillary’s emails
8am – B Fairfax County Considers New Overnight Noise Ordinance. (NB Washington) — Fairfax County, Virginia, may soon be much quieter at night. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering a new noise ordinance that would ban household noises such as lawn mowers and barking dogs from dusk until dawn. If passed as is, violators could face fines or even jail time. The ordinance proposes that:
Trash pickup be banned in residential districts between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
No one may mow their lawn between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
On Sundays through Thursdays, outdoor speakers must be muted from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Local dog parks open at 8 a.m. on weekends and holidays
The city ban barking dogs (or other domestic pet noises) from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The ordinance specifies that in order for a pet owner to be fined for a noise violation, the animal must make the sound in question for two minutes in any 10-minute period. The fine does not apply when the animal is making noise because it is hurt or threatened. The proposal also suggests civil and criminal penalties for individuals who violate the ordinance, with an original fine starting at $250 and $500 for each subsequent offense. Criminally, individuals who disobey the ordinance could receive a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of a $1,000 fine or up to six months in jail if the ordinance is passed as is.
8am – C Not So Pedestrian: Gay-Friendly Street Signs Light Up Vienna. Gay-themed traffic lights have been introduced to Austria’s capital city, host of next week’s Eurovision Song Contest. Reuters reports that pedestrian crossings in central Vienna have been altered to show male or female couples with hearts replacing the usual single, gender-neutral figure. A spokeswoman for the city lighting department said the move was designed to “present Vienna as an open-minded city.” In addition to capitalising on the influx of gay tourists in town to attend the annual musical event, she claimed the move is also intended to improve road safety by using the unusual symbols to attract the attention of pedestrians and drivers. After the event the city will collate data to see if the move helped or hindered in that effort.
8am – D INTERVIEW – CHRIS WELCH – Correspondent in Philadelphia, PA — gave the latest update on the Amtrak crash.
TOMORROW: Charles Murray and Blair Lee
