Rep. Barbara Comstock, Uber VP David Plouffe, KT McFarland and Sen. Rand Paul joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Listen here to Wednesday’s show!

INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst @KTMCFARLAND

INTERVIEW: SENATOR RAND PAUL – R-KY, 2016 presidential candidate and author of a new book “Taking a Stand”

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith

5am – A         DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW – REP.  BARBARA COMSTOCK – R-VA

• Comstock Seeks Answers to Amtrak #188 Crash at Hearing. (Patch) – “Three weeks after, why can’t we take those 11 minutes and have a timeline?” asked Comstock. “I just don’t understand what the holdup is.” Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-10th), seeking answers Tuesday morning to the recent fatal derailment of Amtrak #188, expressed frustration Tuesday during the first congressional hearing into the matter. Specifically, she wanted to know whether the engineer was on his cell phone at the time of the derailment. Approximately 238 passengers and 5 crew members were on board. Eight people died and dozens were injured as a result of the Amtrak crash.The train was on its way from DC to New York, traveling at more than 106 mph when it derailed at a sharp turn in the track, authorities said. Several members of Congress asked the same questions as Comstock, whether the engineer was using his phone at the time of the derailment. Christopher Hart, NTSB chair, said there have been complications with examining the engineer’s phone because it was set at different time zones and there were time zone discrepancies within the phone carrier’s records. Comstock asked if the engineer’s phone was turned off and stored, as required. Hart, the NTSB chair, said that the engineer’s phone was in the cabin, but there are still questions about whether it was being used or not. Comstock suggested that phones not be allowed in the cabin, period. “Why isn’t that done?” she asked.

5am – B         Harf: We’re All ‘Totally Perplexed’ by NYT Story on Iran’s Increased Nuclear Stockpile. (Free Beacon) — State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said she was “perplexed” by a New York Times story Tuesday on Iran’s 20 percent increase in nuclear fuel over the past 18 months. The United States has been in negotiations with Iran for a final deal about their nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report on Friday that documented an increase of Iran’s nuclear fuel stockpile. A reporter asked Harf if Iran’s increased stockpiles has complicated the current negotiations. “Not at all. Our team read that story this morning and was quite frankly perplexed because the main contentions of it are totally inaccurate,” Harf said. Harf explained why she felt that way. “First, the notion in the story that western officials or U.S. officials involved were unaware of this issue or not understanding of what this entails is just absurd,” Harf said. “Under the JPOA (Joint Plan of Action), Iran can fluctuate its numbers in terms of their stockpile. They can go up and down as long as at the end of fixed date they are back down below a number.” Iran’s increase in its nuclear stockpile during the negotiations goes against what White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during a White House briefing on March 2.

5am – C         Google self-driving cars to take cruise test on Northern Virginia highways. Self-driving cars to cruise on Virginia highways.  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Self-driving cars will soon be cruising along more than 70 miles of Northern Virginia highways as part of an automated vehicle testing initiative. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the project was announced Monday in Pittsburgh at a meeting of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. The research will be overseen by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute on portions of Interstates 95, 495 and 66, as well as on U.S. 29 and U.S. 50. Institute Director Myra Blanco says it’s still too soon to say which self-driving car manufacturers will be involved.    Test tracks will be used to certify the technology as safe before the cars are allowed on the highway.  The cars must have a driver at the wheel to take over in case of a malfunction.

5am – D         Hillary Clinton News:

• Poll: Hillary Clinton Weakens on Trustworthiness While Jeb Bush Slides Into GOP Free-For-All.  Weakening ratings for Hillary Clinton present opportunities for her potential Republican opponents, even as their own contest morphs into an all-out free-for-all, with Jeb Bush surrendering his frontrunner status in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll. She’s deeper in the hole for honesty and trustworthiness – down 5 points in just two months and 12 points in the last year.  And Americans by 17- to 24-point margins disapprove of her handling of recent questions on her use of personal e-mail while secretary of state, her handling of the Benghazi attack in Libya and fundraising by her family’s foundation.
• Team Hillary starts lowering expectations: ‘It’s a tough race.’ (Washington Times/Joseph Curl) – With her poll numbers plummeting and upstart candidates deciding she’s not unbeatable after all, Team Hillary is beginning to lower expectations for the once-inevitable Democratic nominee. Already this week, a top Clinton campaign official has noted that no candidate has topped 50 percent in the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire. And on Tuesday, Paul Begala, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton and early supporter of Hillary’s 2008 run, said the former Scecretary of State will not waltz into the nomination. “This is a 50-50 thing,” Begala said on CNN. “It’s going to be a very, very tough race. She’s going to have a real challenge for her party’s nomination, although that doesn’t show in the polls yet. It will.  “And when it does, let’s not get our panties in a wad. Let’s say, ‘Hey, Begala told us this was coming months ago.’ It’s a tough country, it’s a tough race, it’s going to be very close,” he said.
• Hillary Fails to Fill ‘Women-Only’ Fundraiser. (Free Beacon) — Plans for a “women-only” fundraising event for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign were abandoned after only 50 tickets were sold just a day before it was scheduled to occur, according to the New York Post. The event was hosted by Silda Wall Spitzer, the ex-wife of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D., N.Y.), at New York City law office of Akin Gump. Tickets for the fundraiser ran for $2,700 and they were not in high-demand.
• Don’t all babies? Hillary Clinton’s Nine-Month-Old Granddaughter Wears Oscar de la Renta.  The Daily Mail reports: “Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton remembered late family friend Oscar de la Renta in a touching tribute at Monday night’s CFDA Awards, and revealed that he sent her newborn daughter a special dress soon before he died, which she believes is likely one of the last pieces he ever designed. Chelsea, 35, spoke at the celebrity-packed fashion event about some of her favorite memories of the beloved designer, whom she had known since her father, former US President Bill Clinton’s years in the White House.  In her speech, she revealed how Mr. de la Renta boosted her self-esteem with a dress he sent her as a teenager – and made her daughter Charlotte ‘one very lucky little girl’ by sending her a dress of her own before he passed away.”

5am – E         The Rolling Stones have just released an unheard version of ‘Brown Sugar’ with Eric Clapton. The Rolling Stones have released a previously unheard recording of their hit song “Brown Sugar” featuring Eric Clapton on the slide guitar. The version of the 1971 song was recorded during at an impromptu performance at a birthday party for Keith Richards in 1970. Richards is said to have considered releasing the version of the famous rock song on the band’s album Sticky Fingers, but decided to keep with the original. The Eric Clapton cut will feature on the band’s upcoming reissue of their acclaimed 1971 album, which is due to be re-released on 8 June. After marking their 50th anniversary with performances at Glastonbury and Hyde Park in 2013, the group have recently released an acoustic take of “Wild Horses”, an extended recording of “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” and an alternate take of “Dead Flowers”. Mick Jagger has said he would like to make a new record with the band soon. The 71-year-old told Rolling Stone it “would be very nice” to make a new album with the band, adding he has a “lot of new songs” from the past two years. The group are due to play their first dates in June since their saxophone player Bobby Keys, who was nicknamed “Mr Brown Sugar”, died in December aged 70.

6am – A         INTERVIEW: DAVID PLOUFFE – former President Obama’s political advisor and current Uber SVP of Policy and Strategy – discussed Uber’s 5 Year Anniversary and 2016 politics.

6am – B         Michigan legislature OKs bill to tie truancy to assistance. LANSING, Mich. (AP) – A Michigan Department of Human Services policy of requiring school attendance for families receiving cash assistance would become law under a bill sent to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder for consideration. The Republican-led House gave final approval to the bill Tuesday. The measure would make law of the existing department policy in which a family loses eligibility for the Family Independence Program if a child ages 6 through 15 doesn’t meet certain attendance requirements. Children 16 or older who are still dependents and haven’t graduated from high school would lose cash assistance for themselves if they don’t meet attendance requirements.

6am – C         Republicans threaten State Dept. funding until Clinton, Benghazi docs are provided. House Republicans are using their most obvious weapon to hold State’s feet to the fire: the power of the purse. House Republicans are threatening to withhold a large chunk of State Department funding until officials speed up their responses to document requests, including House demands for documents pertaining to the Benghazi investigation and a probe of Hillary Clinton’s emails. The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed 2016 spending bill for the State Department and foreign operations withholds 15 percent of the department’s “operational funds until requirements related to proper management of Freedom of Information Act and electronic communications are met,” according to a panel release.

6am – D/E     Obama signs bill remaking NSA phone records program.WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed legislation reviving and reshaping surveillance laws that expired temporarily Sunday night. The White House says Obama signed the bill late Tuesday evening, hours after the Senate gave its final approval. Obama says in a statement that he’s gratified Congress finally approved the bill. He says his administration will move quickly to restore the lapsed surveillance tools. The law eliminates the National Security Agency’s bulk phone-records collection program and replaces it with a more restrictive measure to keep the records in phone companies’ hands.

7am – A/B/C First people arrested for ‘manspreading’ on New York subway. (ABC) — New York transit authority manspreading campaign poster Photo: A campaign launched by New York’s Metropolitan Transport Authority in January urged men to “stop the spread”. Two men were arrested for “manspreading” and taking up too much room on the New York City subway, documents have revealed. The Police Reform Organising Project (PROP) collected 117 vignettes of citizens’ interactions with police for a report on the New York Police Department’s attitudes to race and class. “Police officers had arrested two Latino men on the charge of ‘manspreading’ on the subway, presumably because they were taking up more than one seat and therefore inconveniencing other riders,” according to the report. The term “manspreading” was coined by internet users to describe men taking up more than one public transport seat, by sitting with their knees wide open. Celebrities such as Tom Hanks and Mathew Broderick were snapped taking up more than one seat as part of the #manspreading internet craze. In January, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) launched a subway etiquette campaign which included a poster reading “Dude… Stop the Spread, Please”. The MTA’s rules of conduct prohibit passengers taking up more than one seat when it interferes “with the operation of the Authority’s transit system or the comfort of other passengers”. The PROP report said “the judge expressed her scepticism about the charge because of the time of the arrests: ’12:11AM, I can’t believe there were many people on the subway’.”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst @KTMCFARLAND

• Harf: We’re All ‘Totally Perplexed’ by NYT Story on Iran’s Increased Nuclear Stockpile
• Broken leg won’t hobble Iran talks, says US, as John Kerry flies back for surgery
• Obama signs bill remaking NSA phone records program
• Assad’s Forces May Be Aiding New ISIS Surge
• After FIFA President Blatter’s Resignation, Doubts Grow Over Russia, Qatar World Cups. Outgoing FIFA President Sepp Blatter was strongest supporter of their bids.  Russia and Qatar lost the strongest supporter of their bids to host the next two World Cups when FIFA President Sepp Blatter resigned his post on Tuesday, casting further doubt on whether the controversy-marred tournaments would be played as scheduled. FIFA is now likely to face further calls for a revote on both tournaments, or a transparent probe into how they were awarded. Qatar and Russia were both named hosts in a joint bidding process in 2010, the first time countries have been awarded the quadrennial event at the same time.

7am – E         Sports News:

• D.C. United considers move to Virginia. WASHINGTON — Despite approved plans for a $150 million stadium in the District, D.C. United is listening to pitches from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Loudoun County officials that would bring the team’s home across the Potomac. The deal approved by the D.C. Council last December took almost two years to negotiate, but Loudoun County is now courting the team as well, claiming the project could be completed faster and at a lower cost than in the District. The team currently plays at RFK Stadium in the District. A source close to the stadium negotiations told The Washington Post that the team is not pleased with the idea of having to pay possible cost overruns or provide protections should the team not build the stadium for any reason once the District has acquired the land. Also, The Post reports that Loudoun Economic Development Director Buddy Rizer has met with team officials multiple times leading up to a tour of potential sites around the county. In an email with team officials, Rizer claimed that a stadium in Loudoun County would cost at least $38 million less than the proposed stadium in D.C., and that a 2017 opening of the stadium would be an “achievable goal” due to the county’s “fast track process” option.
• Redskins remove thousands of seats from FedEx Field. WASHINGTON — The Washington Redskins have removed thousands of seats at FedEx Field, according to The Washington Post. The revelation came at an open house season ticket event at the stadium Saturday. During the event, attendees noticed that thousands of seats had been removed from the top eight rows of many sections in the stadium’s upper deck, The Post reports. This marks the third time in five years the team has lowered capacity in Landover, having also removed seats in 2011 and 2012.  The decision follows a two-year stretch in which the team went just 7-25 following its postseason appearance in 2012. FedEx Field’s 2014 capacity was listed at 85,000, but paid attendance averaged just 77,964, or 91.7 percent of that. While Washington continues to be a top-five NFL draw, the team has not broken the 80,000 average mark per game since the 2010 campaign.
• Nationals’ Strasburg diagnosed with strained left trapezius. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Nationals say pitcher Stephen Strasburg has been diagnosed with a strained left trapezius, an upper back muscle where the arm meets the neck. Strasburg left Friday’s start at Cincinnati after 16 pitches and was put on the disabled list the following day. He was examined Monday was team doctors in Washington. Washington manager Matt Williams said Tuesday the trapezius was the cause of the neck and upper back discomfort. Strasburg is 3-5 with a 6.55 ERA in 10 starts and failed to last four innings in four of five outings in May.

8am – A         White House Spokesman: Obama praises Caitlyn Jenner’s courage.(USA Today) — President Obama is supportive of Caitlyn Jenner’s transformation from Bruce Jenner, the White House spokesman said Tuesday. “The president does believe that Caitlyn Jenner has shown tremendous courage, as she has undergone this transition in a very public way,” said press secretary Josh Earnest. “And that’s worthy of our respect.” Earnest said the president supports the views expressed by the “Barack Obama” Twitter feed operated by the political group Organizing For Action, which said: “It takes courage to share your story.” Caitlyn Jenner made her debut Monday via a Vanity Fair article and photo shoot. Her new Twitter feed garnered 1 million followers in a little over four hours, breaking a record set on May 18 by … President Obama, with his new, personal “POTUS” handle. Earnest said Obama isn’t too worried about losing the Twitter record. “It was good while it lasted, though,” he joked.

Caitlyn Jenner will be honored at the 2015 ESPYs with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award! And the accolades keep on coming for Caitlyn Jenner.  ESPN confirms to E! News that the 65-year-old star will be honored at the 2015 ESPY Awards and will receive the prestigious Arthur Ashe Courage Award in July.  “In the past few months, the overwhelming outpouring of support from all over the world for my journey has been incredible,” Jenner said in a statement. “However, being honored with this award, which is named after one of my heroes, is truly special. For the first time this July, I will be able to stand as my true self in front of my peers.” Past recipients of the honor, which is presented annually to individuals whose contributions transcend sports, include Michael Sam, the NFL league’s first openly gay player, Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts and former women’s college basketball coach Pat Summitt. The news of Jenner’s forthcoming award comes just hours after the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, made her public debut as Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair (with the release of her Vanity Fair cover on June 1, Caitlyn has chosen to publicly identify as a woman and E! News will refer to her using female pronouns. In stories published prior to this date, Caitlyn was referred to as Bruce and male pronouns were used).

8am – C         Critter News:

• Family leaves snake infested house just months after moving in.ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WBFF) — Jeff and Jody Brooks just moved in December into their new home on Truxton Road to raise their two children. “Unfortunately we learned was infested with snakes,” Jody said, standing in her empty kitchen. The Brooks family moved out in April after they say their home was a nesting ground for snakes. They found eight snakes in just a few months, with signs of more nests and skin left elsewhere. “It’s one thing if they’re living out back and chasing mice and living out back, but to be living with you, is a different story,” Jeff said. “At this point, it’s the tip of the iceberg to where we are now, about $40-50,000 [out of pocket].” The family wants out of their bank loan and is suing their realtor and former homeowner, citing non-disclosure of knowledge of a snake infestation. “When you’re 100% maxed out, you can’t. You just, what do you do? You’re staring at financial ruin in the face, and just what do you do,” Jody asked. “I had no idea. We’ve learned so much in this process. It’s more than I’ve ever wanted to learn about snakes.” The snakes ranged in length from a couple inches to seven feet. The Brookses say the exterminators found snake “highways” in the insulation.
• This seven-toed cat resembling a bobcat is on the loose, cavorting with two female felines. No, it’s not a bobcat you just saw. It’s a pixiebob. (Washington Post) — A poster for Cam, posted on Facebook by the county police. Several Haymarket-area residents called police in Prince William County last week to report an animal sighting: a bobcat, they said. The animal they saw, it turns out, was not a bobcat but a pixiebob, a breed of domestic cat that resembles bobcats. Three pixiebobs, caged together to create more pixiebobs, escaped from a breeder in Nokesville in mid-May, according to the owner of one of the three cats. Since then, they’ve been on the loose. And James Herald, owner of the one male cat in the group of roaming pixiebobs, is concerned about his pet being mistaken for a wild animal. “We’re worried to death. He’s our baby,” Herald said. “We’re trying to spread the word so nobody shoots him.”
• Here come the big, red-eyed cicadas. (USA Today) – A “brood” of big, red-eyed cicadas is slowly emerging in the central USA this month after patiently waiting 17 years underground. The noisy critters are popping out across Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

8am – D         INTERVIEW: SENATOR RAND PAUL – R-KY, 2016 presidential candidate and author of a new book “Taking a Stand”

• NEW BOOK ” Taking a Stand”
• Obama signs bill remaking NSA phone records program
• SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM VS RAND PAUL: Lindsey Graham Would Support Rand Paul Over Hillary Clinton ‘After I Came Out of My Coma’ / Liindsey Graham: If It’s Hillary vs Rand Paul, She Would ‘Tear Him Apart’