Rep. Andy Harris, Sweet Baby Jesus founder Dave Benfield, KT McFarland & legal analyst Katie Phang joined WMAL on Wednesday morning.
Listen here to Wednesday’s show!

INTERVIEW – REP ANDY HARRIS (R-MD)

  INTERVIEW – DAVE BENFIELD — founder of Baltimore-based DuClaw Brewing Company, maker of “Sweet Baby Jesus!” beer

INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst

INTERVIEW – KATIE PHANG – Fox News legal analyst and Partner at Berger Singerman. She’s based in Miami, FL.

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith

5am – A/B/C Virginia’s McAuliffe plans to phase out Confederate flag license plate. RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that he wants to phase out a state-sponsored license plate featuring an image of the Confederate flag. At an appearance in Richmond, McAuliffe (D) called the symbol “unnecessarily divisive and hurtful.” The news comes in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of nine members of a historically African American church in Charleston, S.C., allegedly by Dylann Storm Roof, a 21-year-old white man who, according to police, said he wanted “to start a race war.”

5am – D         Donald Trump hits Jeb Bush during visit to Maryland. (Baltimore Sun) — Donald Trump knows how to put on a show. The billionaire real estate mogul, who entered the race for the GOP presidential nomination this month, told state Republicans in Linthicum on Tuesday night that his background as a negotiator and businessman makes him the most qualified candidate to “take back our jobs,” “take back our money” and “take back our country.” His visit to Maryland, which had been in the works months before he announced his presidential bid, came as a new Suffolk University poll put Trump in second place in New Hampshire behind former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Trump reacted to the poll’s findings by attacking Bush. “I can’t believe Bush is in first place. This guy can’t negotiate his way out of a paper bag,” Trump said. “So I’m in second place to Bush? I hate it!”

5am – E         Nats fans get props for grammar, Mets and Phillies fans do not. (Washington Post) – In April, the Wall Street Journal used proofreading program Grammarly to rank the grammar, punctuation and spelling of every fan base in the NFL based on a review of the reader comments on each team’s Web site. The Redskins fans fared the worst. The Journal did the same unscientific study for MLB teams and the results should make Nationals fans smile. Mets and Phillies fans have the worst and second-worst grammar in the league, while Braves fans (ninth) aren’t far behind. The Orioles’ site features the 10th-most mistakes per 100 words. Comments on the Nationals’ site averaged 5.9 mistakes per 100 words, 10th-fewest in baseball. Only four National League teams’ fan bases rank better than the Nationals, and none of them are is (see, grammar is hard) in the N.L. East. Not bad for a team that once wore ‘Natinals’ jerseys.

6am – A/B/C White House to announce US won’t prosecute hostages’ families who pay ransom. The White House is expected to announce Wednesday that the administration will tell families of Americans held by terror groups they can communicate with captors and even pay ransom without fear of prosecution — a move likely to stir controversy on Capitol Hill. Already, one prominent critic of U.S. hostage policy, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., is dismissing the proposed changes as “nothing more than window dressing.” The administration plans to release the results of a broad review of U.S. hostage guidelines Wednesday. The full details of the review are not yet public, but sources told the Associated Press it will address ransom policies.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – REP ANDY HARRIS (R-MD)

Andrew “Andy” Harris is a politician and physician who has been the U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 1st congressional district since 2011.

• HOGAN: Thoughts on Governor Hogan’s Cancer Diagnosis — both political impact in MD and thoughts from a medical perspective
• TRADE BILL: Senate advances fast-track trade bill for Obama. House Republicans balk at leaders’ ‘culture of punishment’.
• OBAMACARE: Looking ahead to the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling — what do House Republicans plan to do to respond to how the Supreme Court will rule? House Republicans craft Obamacare subsidies alternative ahead of Supreme Court ruling.

6am – E         The Rush To Eliminate Confederate Symbols:

• CNN Host: Should We Tear Down Thomas Jefferson Memorial? The latest profile in Confederate flag idiocy comes courtesy of CNN host Ashleigh Banfield. Banfield, who has a rich history of putting her foot in her mouth, asked fellow CNN dummy Don Lemon if it’s now appropriate for lawmakers to start a future conversation about whether or not the monument of Thomas Jefferson should be removed from the U.S. Capitol.
• A look at calls to remove Confederate symbols across South. (Fox Baltimore):
  • South Carolina: Lawmakers took the initial steps Tuesday toward removing the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds, a day after Republican Gov. Nikki Haley reversed course and called for the divisive symbol to come down.
  • Kentucky: Republican U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that his state of Kentucky must remove a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis from the state Capitol’s rotunda.
  • Mississippi: Leaders of the Republican-controlled state are divided on whether to alter the Mississippi flag, a corner of which is made up of the Confederate battle flag.
  • Washington, D.C.: In the Capitol’s Statuary Hall, where each state gets to appoint two statues, Jefferson Davis stands as a representative of Mississippi — among several Confederate figures.
  • Virginia — Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe is moving to have the Confederate flag banished from state license plates
  • Texas — The University of Texas president said Tuesday that the school will establish a panel of students, faculty and alumni to determine what to do with a statue of Confederacy President Jefferson Davis.
  • Tennessee: Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers called for a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and an early leader in the Ku Klux Klan, to be removed from an alcove outside the Senate chambers at the Statehouse.
  • North Carolina: A spokesman for Gov. Pat McCrory says the Republican plans to ask the General Assembly to pass a law that would discontinue the use of the Confederate flag on specialty license plates for the Confederate Veterans.
  • Alabama: Rep. Alvin Holmes of Montgomery said Tuesday that the state should remove Confederate flags from the Alabama Capitol grounds.
  • Maryland: Gov. Larry Hogan’s press secretary says the Republican leader opposes the use of the Confederate flag on the state’s license plates. Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz says he wants to change the name of Robert E. Lee Park.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – DAVE BENFIELD — founder of Baltimore-based DuClaw Brewing Company, maker of “Sweet Baby Jesus!” beer

• According to Fox News, Heinen’s, a grocery store chain based in Cleveland, recently decided to stop selling the beer after customers complained that the name was “offensive.” Heinen’s began selling the porter two months ago. The chain has 22 outlets in Ohio and Illinois.

7am – B         Obama extending amnesty to illegals in prisons, jails. Recognizes complaints of sanctuary cities. (Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times) — The administration has ordered agents to begin ignoring many of the illegal immigrants they encounter in prisons and jails, as President Obama begins to implement a lesser-known part of his deportation amnesty policy — though his program isn’t sitting well with either side of the immigration debate. In a nod to so-called sanctuary cities, the president’s policy prohibits U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from targeting most illegal immigrants for deportation, including most of those who come into contact with state and local police.

7am – C         Larry Got Engaged!

• Larry O’Connor on Facebook: “Tonight, under a beautiful Washington sky, while the Lincoln Memorial glowed behind her, in the shadow of the Washington monument, Meredith Dake made me the happiest man alive. It’s been a great ride so far… Now the fun REALLY begins! ‪#‎TeamDake.”

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

• Obama to loosen restrictions on private ransoms for hostages. White House to announce US won’t prosecute hostages’ families who pay ransom
• House Intel Committee Chair: US Is At ‘The Highest Threat Level We Have Ever Faced In This Country’
• U.S. Sending Armored Combat Brigade to Europe Amid Russia Tension
• White House pressed to extend Iran nuclear talks deadline
• OPM Director on Second Hack: We Can’t Say How Many Were Affected
• Hillary Clinton facing questions over involvement in Uranium One sale

7am – E         Entertainment News:

• Dick Van Patten, the genial comic actor best known as the patriarch of TV’s “Eight is Enough,” has died at age 86. Born in New York, the veteran entertainer began his career as a child actor performing on the stage and on TV during its infancy. But his greatest success was as Tom Bradford, a middle-aged widower and father of eight children who met and married Abby, played by Betty Buckley. The ABC comedy-drama aired from 1877-1981.
• Kanye West Raps About Charleston, Thinks It’s in N. Carolina. ‘Five-hundred n*ggas getting pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-popped, and North Carolina didn’t help’ (Breitbart) — Rapper Kanye West addressed last week’s racially motivated mass murder in Charleston, South Carolina during a guest performance at a concert in Atlanta on Saturday, and made one thing clear: he has no idea where Charleston is. During his set at Hot 107.9’s Birthday Bash, the rapper went off the cuff for a freestyle rap performance, and got low to the ground to talk about the state of America’s current racial climate, which apparently warranted dozens of N-words and a career parallel.

8am – A/B/C OPM director: No one ‘personally responsible’ for hacks. OPM Director Katherine Archuleta said cybersecurity is the responsibility of the entire government. The director of the Office of Personnel Management testified Tuesday that she believes no one is personally to blame for the recent cyber attacks on her agency that compromised the sensitive information of millions of federal employees. “I don’t believe anyone is personally responsible” for the two hacks on the agency’s systems, OPM Director Katherine Archuleta said Tuesday. She did, however, say the cybersecurity weaknesses were exacerbated by “decades of lack of investment in the systems we inherited when I came in.” Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, the director said cybersecurity is a responsibility that falls on every federal employee. She said the breaches mark an opportunity to address the problem government-wide.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – KATIE PHANG – Fox News legal analyst and Partner at Berger Singerman. She’s based in Miami, FL.

• MANHUNT FOR ESCAPED PRISONERS
  • Manhunt continues for escaped killers; officials hope 18-day search might be close to the end.   A law enforcement source confirms to CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton that a pair of boots was found left behind in a cabin about 20 miles from the prison, raising the possibility that one of the escaped inmates could be barefoot. The cabin where the boots were found is the same cabin where DNA testing on an item also left behind showed a match with at least one of the escapees.
• FREDDIE GRAY CASE
  • Marilyn Mosby profiled in Vogue. Article entitled: “Meet Marilyn Mosby: The Baltimore Prosecutor in the Eye of the Storm”
  • Mosby maintains her office did not leak Freddie Gray autopsy: State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is speaking out against allegations that her office was responsible for a leak to a media outlet that obtained a copy of Freddie Gray’s autopsy report. “I want to make it very clear that the State’s Attorney’s Office did not release the Freddie Gray autopsy report,” Mosby said. “As I have repeatedly stated, I strongly condemn anyone with access to trial evidence who has leaked information prior to the resolution of this case.”         The details of the report, published in The Baltimore Sun, indicated that Gray died from a “high-energy injury” and that his death fits into the medical and legal definition of an accident. However, the six police officers’ ‘acts of omission’ such as neglecting to seatbelt him in the police wagon, constitute a homicide.