Joe diGenova, Weekly Standard’s Daniel Halper and Washington Post’s Robert Costa joined WMAL on Monday.

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, June 22, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith

5am – A/B/C Dems Politicizing Gun Control In Wake of Charleston Church Shooting

• ‘White racism,’ NRA are to blame for lax gun rules, Martin O’Malley says
• Karl Rove misquoted: Only Way To Stop The Violence Is To Repeal Second Amendment
• Tucker Carlson: Obama’s Secret Service detail should lose guns first if he wants gun control
• In Charleston’s wake, Clinton speaks forcefully on guns, race

5am – D         Brian Williams tells Matt Lauer he ‘owns up’ to mistakes. (Fox News) — Brian Williams says he let his ego get the better of him in telling stories that exaggerated his role in reporting news stories. The NBC anchorman, stripped of his role as “Nightly News” anchor and reassigned to MSNBC, broke his silence on NBC’s “Today” show Friday about the episodes that derailed his career. He said it came from a bad place inside of him, that it was “ego-driven, a desire to better my role in a story that I was already in.” “It has been torture looking back,” Williams told Matt Lauer on “Today.” “I was reading these newspaper stories not liking the person I was reading about.” He added, “These statements I made, I own this, I own up to this and I had to go through and see and try to figure out how it happened.” On the Iraq incident, he noted that “I told that story correctly for years before I told it incorrectly.” Lauer pressed Williams on whether he knew he was lying when he made certain statements. “Did you know when you went on ‘Nightly News’ that you were telling a story that was not true,” he asked Williams. “No, it came from a bad place. It came from a sloppy choice of words. I told stories that were not true over the years…looking back it is very clear I never intended to. It got mixed up, it got turned around in my mind.” Williams said it has been “a time of realization” for him both personally and professionally.

5am – E         ‘Emotional’ robot sells out in a minute. Pepper, a humanoid robot, designed to be emotionally developed. Robot released to consumers on Saturday and sold out within a minute. It’s base price is $1,600, with $200 monthly data and insurance fees. (CNN) Pepper the humanoid robot is so hot that he sold out within a minute, according to his Japanese creator, SoftBank Robotics Corp. Only 1,000 models were available for the consumer launch on Saturday in Japan. The base price was set at ¥198,000 ($1,600) with an additional ¥24,600 ($200) monthly data and insurance fees. Standing just under four feet tall, and weighing 61 pounds, Pepper is designed to read emotions as well as recognize tones of voice and facial expressions in order to interact with humans. But most of all, “he tries to make you happy,” Kaname Hayashi, Softbank’s project manager, told CNN last year. With his array of cameras, touch sensors, accelerometer and other sensors in his “endocrine-type multi-layer neural network,” Pepper has the ability to read your emotions as well as develop his own. He isn’t a work robot, but more of an emotional companion for people.

6am – A/B/C In the wake of the South Carolina shootings, should the Confederate Flag Go?
Huckabee won’t be ‘baited’ into Confederate flag debate, says it’s not a ‘presidential’ issue

• SC Dem: Confederate ‘battle flag’ a symbol of hatred. South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn (D) said on Sunday that what most people consider the Confederate flag is a former battle emblem that inspires hatred. That is a battle flag that flies in front of the Statehouse,” Clyburn said of the Confederate flag outside the South Carolina State Capitol building in Columbia. “That is a flag of rebellion,” he told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We would not be having this discussion if that were the flag of the Confederate States of America because that flag is not a symbol of hate,” he added.

6am – D         Why Do Dads Love to Spend Father’s Day Alone?

• President Obama’s penchant for desert golf faces scrutiny as he heads to drought-ridden California: Obama spends Father’s Day on the golf course. (CNN) President Barack Obama is spending Father’s Day without his family, instead hitting the links in Palm Springs, California, with longtime friends. First lady Michelle Obama and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, have been abroad in London and Italy, leaving the President home alone for a week. After a two-day swing in Los Angeles and San Francisco for fundraisers and an address at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the President has been nestled this weekend in the luxurious resorts of Palm Springs. On Saturday, he played golf at Sunnylands Golf Course, with longtime friends and former schoolmates from Hawaii, Bobby Titcomb, Greg Orme and Mike Ramos. The golfer-in-chief is expected to do the same again on Sunday.

6am – E         South Carolina Shootings ‘An Act of Terrorism’?

• Rick Santorum on Charleston: Don’t think there’s any question this is an act of terrorism
• FBI Director Says Charleston Shooting Not Terrorism

7am – A         INTERVIEW _ JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – previewed the looming Supreme Court decisions and legal aspects of the South Carolina shootings.

7am – B        School offers $500 gift cards for students to live off campus. (ABC News) — Faced with a shortage of on-campus student housing this fall, Washington, D.C.-based American University is offering an incentive to students to go find somewhere else to live.   Students who agree to leave their housing assignments will be given a $500 gift card, ABC station WJLA-TV reported. In addition, American University would waive the $500 housing termination fee to the students who plan to cancel their on-campus housing this fall. The students were notified of the offer by email in early June, and the deadline was this past Thursday, according to American University student paper The Eagle.

7am – C More Shortages:

• A horrible-tasting Mexican beer is so popular there’s now a shortage in America. (Business Insider) — Corona, the fifth-best-selling beer in America despite horrible taste ratings, is facing a shortage. The company told The Wall Street Journal it is spending $1.5 billion to expand its main brewery on the Mexican border. It’s also trying to open a new plant in California, with the goal of doubling its output by 2018. “We’re doubling capacity and brewing at the same time,” an executive from parent company Constellation told The Journal. “There’s nothing like it in the brewery world.” Corona is the fifth-best-selling beer in the US. But many industry insiders are scratching their heads at the company’s success. Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a recent note that they were “surprised by the momentum occurring at Corona.” Constellation reports that sales are up 16%, and Wall Street says brand perception is improving.
• Egg shortage cutting into restaurant profits, menu items. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Those who like to indulge in a good omelet or quiche at the local cafe should prepare to pay a little more — if it’s even on the menu. Restaurants are struggling to deal with higher egg prices and an inability to get enough eggs and egg products in the midst of a shortage brought about by a bird flu virus that wiped out millions of chickens on commercial farms this spring. Some restaurants are pulling especially eggy dishes off menus while others are contemplating raising prices until the supply returns to normal. Getting eggs from a smaller, local producer — which have largely been spared from the outbreak — has not protected Omaha restaurant owner Nick Bartholomew and other independently-owned eateries. His supplier’s inventory has dwindled to meet demand and production is down because of testing by federal safety officials. And the restaurant’s overall production costs have gone up by 15 percent in recent weeks, so he says he’ll have to raise prices soon. “We’re now having to use three or four different producers and call around to different chicken farms to see what is available and when it will be available,” said Bartholomew, whose restaurant, Over Easy, serves breakfast and lunch with a focus on local ingredients. The restaurant has already taken strata — an egg casserole similar to quiche — off the menu. The H5N2 avian flu virus began showing up in Midwest commercial turkey and chicken farms this spring. To date, 48 million turkeys and chickens have died or were euthanized to prevent the virus from spreading further. The frequency of new cases has slowed dramatically in most states, though agriculture officials said last week that an Iowa chicken farm with 1 million egg-layers tested positive for the virus.

7am – D         ​Daddy’s home: Embracing paternity leave. (CBS News) — With gifts and cards and maybe a dinner out, millions of Americans are honoring their dads today, realizing that tomorrow many dads will head out the door and back to another busy work week that allows for precious little family time. No wonder a growing number of new dads are embracing the opportunity to briefly enjoy an alternate lifestyle where daddy’s home. Scott Brodrick may be the best one-handed sandwich maker around. That bundle in his other hand is the family’s newly-adopted son, Shea. When they brought him home last month, Scott decided to do something that most fathers in this country simple can’t do: He’s staying home from work for six weeks so he can soak up plenty of father-son moments. “He won’t remember these times, but I certainly will,” said Scott. “And yeah, it’s been great bonding time for us.” His company, PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Chicago, has a policy toward new fathers that is generous, to say the least. That month-and-a-half Scott’s getting? It’s all paid. Cowan asked, “What do other dads tell you when you tell them how much time you got?” “Jaws hit the floor,” said Scott. “It’s an unbelievable policy, and really rare for the father to be able to take six weeks off.”

7am – E         AP photo shows a gun pointed at Ted Cruz’s head. (Politico) – In an Associated Press image that drew comment and criticism on Twitter on Sunday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is seen speaking with what appeared to be a gun aimed straight at him. The photograph — taken by the AP’s Charlie Neibergall — actually captured a background poster, with a large semi-blurred image of a handgun pointed at Cruz’s forehead, straight between the eyes. Cruz was appearing Saturday at CrossRoads Shooting Sports in Johnston, Iowa. During his speech, Cruz, an outspoken proponent of Second Amendment rights, encouraged residents to adopt what he called a Texan approach to guns by simply “hitting what you aim at.”

8am – A                     INTERVIEW – DANIEL HALPER – Online Editor, Weekly Standard and author of new book “Clinton, Inc.: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine” – discussed the politics of the South Carolina shootings.

8am – B         Taylor Swift News:

Apple, After Criticism From Taylor Swift, Will Pay Royalties in Trial Period. Apple changes tune on royalties after Swift complains PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Swift has Apple changing its tune. Hours after the pop superstar criticized the giant tech company in an open letter posted online, Apple announced Sunday that it will pay royalties to artists and record labels for music played during a free, three-month trial of its new streaming music service. “When I woke up this morning and I saw Taylor’s note that she had written, it really solidified that we needed to make a change,” said Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue in an interview with The Associated Press. Apple had already agreed to share revenue from paid subscriptions to the new Apple Music service, which will cost $10 a month. But Swift said she would withhold her latest album from the service because Apple wasn’t planning to pay artists and labels directly for the use of their music during the free, introductory period.

8am – C         Sports News:

• Max Scherzer comes so close to perfect game, settles for a mere no-hitter: WASHINGTON (AP) — Max Scherzer pitched a no-hitter and came agonizingly close to a perfect game, hitting a batter with two outs in the ninth inning Saturday in the Washington Nationals’ 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Scherzer was masterful in retiring the first 26 hitters and came within one strike of throwing the 22nd perfect game in major league history since 1900. Pinch-hitter Jose Tabata then fouled off three 2-2 pitches before Scherzer clipped him on the elbow with a breaking ball. Tabata dropped his elbow as the pitch approached, and Scherzer immediately grimaced after plunking him.
• Jordan Spieth wins U.S. Open, his second major in a row. Spieth wins a stunner at Chambers Bay for US Open title. UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Gathering himself during a walk through the tunnel from the 17th green to the 18th tee, his mind jarred after a double-bogey 5 that wiped out his lead, Jordan Spieth proved his championship mettle once again at crusty Chambers Bay in the 115th U.S. Open. Spieth closed with a 69 to finish at 5-under for the tournament, beating Dustin Johnson (70) and Louis Oosthuizen (67) by one shot to win his second major of the year. The trophy didn’t come without plenty of drama in the final moments of the championship.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – ROBERT COSTA – national political reporter at The Washington Post – discussed the latest developments in South Carolina and the 2016 election.