Lanny Davis, Eli Lake and Larry Kudlow joined WMAL on Tuesday.

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith

5am – A         DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW: MAJOR ERIC NAVARRO — combat veteran, having served two tours in Iraq. Now a Major in the USMC Reserves, he is also the author of “God Willing”

5am – B/C     US defense secretary says fall of Ramadi shows Iraqi forces lack will to fight ISIS. The Islamic State group’s takeover of Ramadi is evidence that Iraqi forces do not have the “will to fight”, the defense secretary, Ash Carter, said on Sunday, in the harshest assessment yet from a high-ranking Obama administration official of Iraqi fighters and the loss of the provincial capital. Iraqi forces outnumbered their opposition in the capital of Anbar province but failed to fight and pulled back from the city in central Iraq, Carter said on CNN. The Iraqis left behind large numbers of US-supplied vehicles, including several tanks. “What apparently happened is the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. They were not outnumbered,” Carter said. “In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force. That says to me, and I think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight [Isis] and defend themselves.” Hakim al-Zamili, the head of Iraq’s parliamentary defense and security committee, calls Carter’s comments “unrealistic and baseless”. He said the US should bear much of the blame for the fall of Ramadi, for its failure to provide “good equipment, weapons and aerial support” to the soldiers. Now he says the US military is seeking to “throw the blame on somebody else”.

5am – D         Batch of Hillary’s Emails Released:

• State Dept. released hundreds of Clinton Benghazi emails on Friday
• Hillary takes heat after discovery she slept through president’s Benghazi briefing. Apparently, Hillary Clinton isn’t even ready for the 10 a.m. phone call. Information obtained from her emails released by the State Department Friday revealed that Clinton missed President Obama’s first daily intel briefing after the 2012 terrorist attacks on Benghazi. “I just woke up,” the former secretary of state wrote at 10:43 a.m on Sept 15, 2012. It was a far cry from her 2008 campaign ad against then-Sen. Barack Obama asking if he would be ready for a 3 a.m. phone call.
• ‘Chris Smith’ — Hillary Mixes Up Slain Ambassador’s Name In Email To Aides. (Daily Caller) — Emails released Friday by the State Department show that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mixed up the names of the Americans murdered at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012. Clinton sent an email with the subject line “Chris Smith” shortly before midnight to three top aides, Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Victoria Nuland. “Cheryl told me the Libyans confirmed his death. Should we announce tonight or wait until morning?” Clinton wrote. Four Americans were killed that night after a terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda stormed the consulate. But none were named Chris Smith. Clinton likely jumbled the names of ambassador Chris Stevensand diplomat Sean Smith.  Two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, were also killed.

5am – E         If there’s a drought, it’s climate change. If there’s a flood, it’s climate change.

• Climate change could overwhelm California, Obama adviser says.WASHINGTON — Climate change is moving faster than anticipated and is intensifying California’s drought, and unless greenhouse gas emissions are slowed, the state’s efforts to adapt will ultimately be overwhelmed, President Obama’s science adviser says. California can do many things to adapt to the challenge of a drier environment, from pricing water more realistically to increasing conservation and efficiency and building more dams, White House science adviser John Holdren said in an interview with The Chronicle. But if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current course, he said, such efforts are “ultimately going to be swamped by the changes in climate.”
• 4 dead after record storms in Texas, Oklahoma; 12 missing in one county.  (CNN) – Record-setting rains left officials in Texas and Oklahoma scrambling to assess the scope of the damage and destruction Monday as an emergency coordinator told reporters that a dozen people were missing in one county. The 12 people missing in Hays County, Texas, come from families who had gathered for the long weekend, said Ken Bell, emergency coordinator for San Marcos, one of the cities hardest hit by the storms and flooding. The group likely includes children, Bell said. The county still has Internet problems, and cell phone networks are overwhelmed. “People outside our community know more about what’s going on than people inside our community,” Bell said.
• Catastrophic Flooding Sweeps Away Homes, Breaks Records. (Think Progress) — After record-breaking rainfall this spring, no portion of Texas or Oklahoma was in extreme drought as of Thursday, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Going from one extreme to another is a hallmark of climate change. Scientists predict more droughts in the coming decades, as well as more intense rainstorms. In the midwest, the number of storms that drop more than three inches of rain have increased by 50 percent, according to an analysis from the Rocky Mountain Institute. Texas and Oklahoma both face intensifying drought and flooding, although politicians in both states have denied climate change. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, Texas “has yet to formally address climate change preparedness” — one of only 12 states to not have taken any steps toward addressing the impacts of climate change on water resources. “Between more intense rainstorms and sea level rise, flooding will only increase if we don’t address climate change,” according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

6am – A/B/C 72,000 lady bugs released into Md. school for senior prank leads to criminal charges. (FOX 5 Reporter) – CHAPTICO, Md. – Pranks committed by graduating seniors are nothing new. But at one high school in St. Mary’s County, the prank was certainly original and involved tens of thousands of lady bugs. The students released 72,000 lady bugs inside Chopticon High School last Wednesday as their senior prank. However, school officials and police are not laughing and some of the kids are in legal trouble. “Please let me walk,” said Brian Reminga. “It was a harmless prank.” That is the message Reminga has for school administrators as he will not be allowed to walk at Chopticon’s graduation because of the prank. Six Chopticon senior students and one alumnus broke into the school at around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and released the lady bugs inside. Now they are facing criminal charges. Four minors were charged with fourth-degree burglary, property destruction and disruption of school activities. The other three will be charged as adults by criminal summons. Sgt. Cara Grimbles, a spokesperson with the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, explained why. “They set the burglary alarm off and the police did respond and we arrived there,” Grimbles said. “Then it takes it to a different level and we certainly don’t want to see anybody get hurt.” Friends are outraged that Reminga will not be able to walk at his graduation and the class president will not be able give a speech at the ceremony either. This after they say another one of the students involved was allowed to play in the baseball state championship game after the prank, which the school won. “Somebody just ordered bugs on Amazon and we decided to do it,” Reminga said. “I wasn’t really part of much of the planning.” “You work four years for something and that is to walk across the stage, and then a little thing like that shouldn’t ruin that much,” said one of Reminga’s friends. “I don’t think that they should go straight out of high school with these criminal records that’s going to make them not get a job, get into college,” said Trinity Alexander. Both the school and district offices were closed on Monday because of Memorial Day. We emailed the principal for a comment, but have not heard back.

6am – D         Baltimore Crime Is Up. Police Morale Is Down.

• Weekend shootings add to Baltimore’s deadliest month since 1999. BALTIMORE — Two people were fatally shot in separate incidents here early Monday, continuing a run of violence in the city over the Memorial Day weekend. The two killings increased this month’s homicide total to 35 — making it Baltimore’s deadliest month since 1999. There have been 108 homicides reported in the city this year. Six other people were shot since 10 p.m. Sunday, bringing the number of shootings over the three-day weekend to 27. The first of the two overnight homicides occurred around 12:29 a.m. Monday in the 800 block of West Fayette Street. According to police, officers found a man inside a car suffering from gunshot wounds. They then located a second victim, a woman who was shot in the back, lying in the street.
• Baltimore crime skyrockets, police morale ‘in the sewer’; and the mayor’s response?  (BizPacReview) — With police morale “in the sewers,” violent crime has all but exploded in the city of Baltimore, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake appears to be clueless about what’s behind the surge. There have been 100 homicides in the city this year, compared to 71 over the same period last year, Fox News reported. In a 28-day period beginning on the day Freddie Gray died, there has been a 120 percent increase in homicides, with 33 being reported during that time. “It’s extremely frustrating,” Rawlings-Blake said. “It is disheartening, but I am still resolved to continue to reduce violent crime in our city.” The very authorities who threw the police department under the bus in favor of appeasing the mob, from the mayor to police Commissioner Anthony Batts, are now faced with a force that has been rocked back on its heels. Police are being accused of engaging in a slowdown in response, according to Fox News. But officers, who question whether they’ll be supported, are reluctant to police aggressively in a hostile community. And arrests are down significantly since the riots. In the face of the anti-police atmosphere, police have stopped being proactive, a 12 year veteran of the force said Friday. Appearing on CNN, the unidentified officer said morale in the department has plummeted. “It’s in the sewers. It’s down,” he said. “It’s the worst of the worst I’ve ever seen in my career.” The officer said cops are only responding to 911 calls, and go in pairs when they do.

6am – E         Obama heralds first U.S. Memorial Day without ground war in 14 years. (Reuters) —  ARLINGTON, Va. – President Barack Obama heralded the first U.S. Memorial Day in 14 years without a major ground war in an annual ceremony of remembrance on Monday for fallen American forces. In remarks at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, Obama paid tribute to U.S. military personnel who served in conflicts such as World War Two as well as the more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which he wound down as commander in chief. “For many of us, this Memorial Day is especially meaningful. It is the first since our war in Afghanistan came to an end,” Obama said. “Today is the first Memorial Day in 14 years that the United States is not engaged in a major ground war.” As a Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, Obama sharply criticized the war in Iraq launched by his Republican predecessor, former President George W. Bush.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – LANNY DAVIS – Former Clinton White House Counsel and author of “Crisis Tales”

• State Dept. released hundreds of Clinton Benghazi emails on Friday.  Hillary takes heat after discovery she slept through president’s Benghazi briefing.

7am – B         Memorial Day News:

• Memorial Day diss: 21-gun salute scrubbed because it violates local ordinance. A 1983 Stroudsburg, Penn., ordinance forbids “any person to use, fire or discharge any gun or other firearm within the borough,” which includes discharging blanks, according to the Pocono Record, which reported:Stroudsburg Borough Council member Boyd Weiss said the 21-gun salute is a practice that has taken place in the borough for most of his life.  Weiss said he understands why the ordinance is in place, but he thought an exception could be made because the salute was customary at similar events in the past.   :I couldn’t understand that,” Weiss said. “My entire life we’ve had gun salutes on Veterans Days or in celebration of veterans.” Because the cemetery lies within the borough limits, the ordinance would bar a military funeral with full honors, Weiss said.
• Drone crashes into crowd at Memorial Day parade in Marblehead, Mass. (NY Daily News) — A drone hovering over a Memorial Day parade in Marblehead, Mass., struck a building and fell on two spectators below on Monday. Scot Yount suffered a small gash in the back of the neck when he and another spectator were hit by the out-of-control drone, CBS Boston reported. “I heard people yell and felt this clunk on my head and the back of my neck,” Yount told CBS Boston. “I realized I just got hit by the thing.” Neither person was seriously injured and the drone operator, who was not identified, apologized.  “It could have been a disaster,” the drone’s owner admitted to Yount in video obtained by CBS Boston. The man told police he would not operate the drone over Marblehead again, and no charges will be filed.

7am – C  Sports News:

• Maryland wins 2nd straight NCAA women’s lacrosse title. (AP) — CHESTER, Pa. — Taylor Cummings and Megan Whittle led Maryland to its second straight NCAA women’s lacrosse title and record-extending 12th overall, each scoring three goals in the Terrapins’ 9-8 comeback victory over North Carolina on Sunday night. Top-ranked Maryland (21-1) overcame a three-goal halftime deficit, the largest halftime deficit ever for a winning team in the NCAA title game, and Cummings and Whittle did most of the heavy lifting. The duo scored four of Maryland’s six second-half goals. Cummings was nearly unstoppable on draws, as Maryland controlled seven of them after halftime, with Cummings tracking down four herself.

• Woman Uses Obituary To Declare Tom Brady’s ‘Deflategate’ Innocence.BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts woman has used her own obituary to convey a final message on Tom Brady and the “Deflategate” scandal. Boston.com reports that Patricia M. Shong, of Auburn, Massachusetts, died on Monday surrounded by family. Her obituary says the 72-year-old enjoyed scrapbooking, weekly card night and spending time with her family.  “She would also like us to set the record straight for her,” it reads. “Brady is innocent!!” Brady was suspended for four games and the New England Patriots were fined $1 million and docked a pair of draft picks after league investigator Ted Wells found that the Super Bowl champions used illegally inflated footballs in the AFC title game. Wells found the New England quarterback “at least generally aware” of the scheme. Brady is appealing his suspension.

7am – D         Art Garfunkel on Paul Simon: ‘I created a monster.’ (Telegraph) — Forty-five years after Simon & Garfunkel split up, the singer is still consumed with bitterness. Although his solo hits (Bright Eyes, I Only Have Eyes for You) were written by other people, and though Paul Simon wrote all the Simon & Garfunkel songs, he does write.  At the risk of sounding like one of his pupils, I ask about the Beatles, specifically George, who felt his talents were overshadowed. George came up to me at a party once and said ‘my Paul is to me what your Paul is to you.’  He meant that psychologically they had the same effect on us. The Pauls sidelined us. I think George felt suppressed by Paul and I think that’s what he saw with me and my Paul. Here’s the truth: McCartney was a helluva music man who gave the band its energy, but he also ran away with a lot of the glory.” He adds that at school he felt sorry for Paul because of his height, and he offered him love and friendship as a compensation. “And that compensation gesture has created a monster. End of interview.”

7am – E         More Commencement Speeches:

• First Lady Michelle Obama spoke today to graduates of Oberlin College.(Weekly Standard) — She encouraged the graduating class to “rise above the noise and shape the revolutions of your time.”  “[T]hink about how even with all the gridlock and polarization in Washington, we have made so much change these past six years:  12 million new jobs.  Sixteen million people who finally have health insurance.  Historic agreements to fight climate change.  Epic increases in college financial aid.  More progress on LGBT rights than any time in our history. And today, it is no longer remarkable to see two beautiful black girls walking their dogs on the South Lawn of the White House lawn.  That’s just the way things are now,” Obama said to applause at the liberal arts college. “See, graduates, this is what happens when you turn your attention outward and decide to brave the noise and engage yourself in the struggles of our time. And that’s why, in his remarks 50 years ago, Dr. King urged the class of ‘65 to “stand up” and “be a concerned generation.” And, graduates, that call to action applies just as much to all of you today.
• Robert De Niro gives grads jolting NYU commencement address: ‘You’re F***ed.’  Actor Robert De Niro acted like he was talking to a room full of Mafiosos instead of fresh-faced college graduates, and at least one parent was none too pleased. During New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts commencement speech, the Oscar-winning actor put on a performance fit for a scene in “The Godfather.” “Tisch graduates, you made it,” he said. “And, you’re f–ked.” Di Niro said graduates of other disciplines will go on to find employment, good or bad, but Tisch graduates are “opening a door to a lifetime of rejection.” “It’s inevitable,” he said. “How do you cope with it? I hear that Valium and Vicodin work.” The actor said he advised his own kids to “never attend the Tisch School for Arts,” and to major in accounting instead. But he eventually did offer a little inspiration. “You discovered a talent, developed an ambition and recognized your passion,” De Niro said. “When you feel that you can’t fight it, you just go for it. When it comes to the arts, passion should always trump common sense. “Yeah you’re f–ked,” he concluded. “The good news is, that’s not a bad place to start.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW — ELI LAKE – Columnist, Bloomberg View

• US defense secretary says fall of Ramadi shows Iraqi forces lack will to fight ISIS
• Eli Lake: Israel Thanks Obama for Keeping Its Nuclear ‘Secret’

8am – B         B.B. King’s daughters accuse aides of poisoning him. Police are investigating. LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two B.B. King heirs who’ve been most outspoken about the blues legend’s care in his final days are accusing King’s two closest aides of poisoning him. Las Vegas police homicide detectives are investigating, Lt. Ray Steiber said Monday. He declined to provide details. Daughters Karen Williams and Patty King allege that family members were prevented from visiting while King’s business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, hastened their father’s death. “I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances,” Patty King and Williams say in identically worded sections of affidavits provided to The Associated Press by their lawyer, Larissa Drohobyczer.

‘Beautiful Mind’ mathematician John Nash, wife killed in car crash.  (CNN) John Forbes Nash Jr., the Princeton University mathematician whose life inspired the film “A Beautiful Mind,” and his wife died in a car crash Saturday, according to New Jersey State Police. Nash, 86, and Alicia Nash, 82, were riding in a taxi near Monroe Township when the incident occurred, State Police Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Williams said.

They were traveling southbound in the left lane when the taxi went out of control while trying to pass another car, Williams said. The car crashed into the guard rail, and they were ejected from the vehicle. They were pronounced dead at the scene, Williams said

Anne Meara, accomplished actress, wife of Jerry Stiller, and mom of Ben Stiller, dead at 85.  Veteran comedian Anne Meara, who died Saturday at 85, was the matriarch of a show-business family. Her husband, Jerry Stiller, was the other half of their comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son, Ben Stiller, became a star in his own right. On Monday morning, the actor tweeted his first comments on the death of his mother. Ben Stiller @RedHourBen: Thank you so much for all the kind words about Anne. All of us in our family feel so lucky to have had her in our lives. 6:12 AM – 25 May 2015

8am – C         NY City orders Sharpton’s daughter to preserve incriminating hiking pics. New York City attorneys warned Dominique Sharpton, daughter of MSNBC host Al Sharpton, to preserve all the Instagram photos she took during her arduous climb to a mountain summit summit while alleging in a lawsuit that she suffered from permanent injuries to her ankle. Sharpton, 28, filed her May 7 lawsuit seeking $5 million in damages, based on a spill she allegedly took late last year on a New York City street that left her “severely injured, bruised and wounded.” According to the complaint, Sharpton “still suffers and will continue to suffer for some time physical pain and bodily injuries.” But then miraculously she was able to climb the Bali mountain in Indonesia and offer proof of her feat in a May 16 Instagram post. “We hiked UP the mountain, over the clouds… into the SUNRISE,” Sharpton said in the post. “One of the most beautiful sites ever. And YES I ALMOST DIED GETTING UP THERE LOL. #Balidays we made it, WHEW.” Now the city, the named defendant in the lawsuit, wants to make sure nothing happens to those photographs, according to the New York Post.

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

• David Koch told Kudlow on his radio show that he’d finance more than one presidential candidate during GOP primary season: this will get complicated
• State Dept. released hundreds of Clinton Benghazi emails on Friday.  Hillary takes heat after discovery she slept through president’s Benghazi briefing.
• Larry discussed the trade deal in Congress.

TOMORROW:          KT McFarland and Michelle Malkin