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Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith

5am – A/B/C Clinton to surrender email server to feds; watchdog confirms ‘top secret’ content. (Washington Times) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she will turn her email server over to federal investigators, as a key watchdog confirmed Tuesday that her emails did contain “top secret” material that was even more sensitive than previously disclosed. Nick Merrill, a spokesman for the former senator and first lady, said she directed her team to give investigators both her server, which she used exclusively for emails during her tenure in the State Department, and a flash drive that her lawyer has, and which also has copies of the messages.

5am – D David Beckham, Best Dad Ever, Defends 4-Year-Old Daughter’s Binkie. (Daily Beast) — After the Daily Mail questioned why his daughter, Harper, was still using a pacifier at the age of 4, the star turned his fire on the tabloid. And oh, the Daily Mail worries about parenting most of all, because it sees itself as the Norland Nanny of the World, judging, insulting, praising, condemning, and endlessly doling out advice—except, in footballer, model, and all-round gasparoo hunk David Beckham’s case, it just picked on the wrong celebrity to offer advice to. “Why does Harper, four, still use a dummy [pacifier]?” the Mail fretted this week, in its usual weird mix of coddling and judgey. “Experts warn David and Victoria Beckham’s little girl may end up with ‘speech or dental issues’ if she continues to use one.” A parenting expert offered: “David and Victoria seem wonderful parents and I’m sure they give Harper lots of attention but, like it or not, they are role models and lots of people will see this and think that having a dummy at this age is normal when it is not. It could be last child syndrome—because she is the youngest David and Victoria could be clinging on to her being a baby.” After the Mail’s story about his daughter using a pacifier, Beckham posted on Instagram: “Why do people feel they have the right to criticize a parent about their own children without having any facts?? Everybody who has children knows that when they aren’t feeling well or have a fever you do what comforts them best and most of the time it’s a pacifier so those who criticize think twice about what you say about other people’s children because actually you have no right to criticize me as a parent…”

5am – E Happy Birthday, DC Streetcar! Practice safety runs continue, but DC streetcars still on hold. (Fox 5) — WASHINGTON – It cost hundreds of millions to build and it has now been a year since the first D.C. streetcars rolled out for practice runs on H Street. Yet passengers are still not allowed on board. So when will they? City officials don’t seem to have the answer to that question. In fact, one District Department of Transportation official told us that they are not going to make the mistake of the Gray administration by promising a date and then not being able to make that date. A year ago, D.C. residents were excited to see the streetcars on the streets of D.C. for training runs. Now, they are still training, but the excitement has turned to frustration. “I’ve got a 3-year-old little girl who now just keeps pointing at an empty streetcar as it rolls on by,” said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen. “It’s incredibly frustrating.”

6am – A/B/C Study: Pedestrian fatalities are on the rise. (WTOP) — WASHINGTON – The number of traffic fatalities involving pedestrians has increased nationwide, according to a new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association. According to the report, 4,735 pedestrians were killed in 2013, the most recent full year of data available. The number represents a 15-percent jump in pedestrian fatalities since 2009. Or to think of it another way: One pedestrian is killed every two hours. Another growing factor in pedestrian crashes is distraction. Researchers are studying the prevalence of pedestrians distracted by cell phones and other electronic devices while walking. According to the report, people between 20 and 29 years old were most likely to be involved in a crash where someone was distracted. The report found that as many as 2 million injuries to pedestrians were related to distracted walking in 2010. “In 2012, a team at the University of Washington observed more than 1,100 pedestrians at 20 Seattle intersections and found that approximately one-third were engaged in a distracting activity such as emailing, talking to another person or listening to music,” the report states.

6am – D/E Clinton to surrender email server to feds; watchdog confirms ‘top secret’ content. (Washington Times) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she will turn her email server over to federal investigators, as a key watchdog confirmed Tuesday that her emails did contain “top secret” material that was even more sensitive than previously disclosed. Nick Merrill, a spokesman for the former senator and first lady, said she directed her team to give investigators both her server, which she used exclusively for emails during her tenure in the State Department, and a flash drive that her lawyer has, and which also has copies of the messages.

7am – A INTERVIEW – BYRON YORK – Chief Political Correspondent for the Washington Examiner – discussed Hillary’s email scandal and the latest state of play of the GOP candidates.

7am – B TV News:

• NBC’s suspension of Brian Williams has ended. Brian Williams’ suspension from NBC News is over and, according to The Wall Street Journal, the former NBC Nightly News anchor will play a role in the remake of MSNBC as it scraps most of its daytime political programming for hard news. Representatives at NBC News could not be reached late Tuesday, but CNN Money reported that the suspension for NBC News’ chief anchor and managing editor had been lifted. NBC News imposed Williams’ six-month suspension on Feb. 10 after it discovered he’d told untruths about being in a helicopter shot down over Iraq, and about other news stories.
• Jeb Bush is opening night guest for Colbert’s ‘Late Show.’ Stephen Colbert: Jeb Bush Guest On ‘Late Show’ Debut. Stephen Colbert announced GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush will be his guest on his debut as host of CBS’s Late Show. Bush will be joining George Clooney who’s also booked for that night. Stephen Colbert @StephenAtHome: .@JebBush will be on #LSSC Sept. 8! My first GOP candidate! Luckily I do 200 shows a year, so I think I can fit them all. 7:00 AM – 11 Aug 2015 // Jeb Bush @JebBush: Only if you have at least two of us on each show. Looking forward to joining your first #LSSC next month! 8:52 AM – 11 Aug 2015 The tweets came less than a day after Colbert said he will get into politics on his CBS late night show to a greater degree that his competitors because it’s in his DNA.

7am – C 5 GAO workers charged with fraud in obtaining school lunch subsidies. GAO Employees Indicted for School Lunch Fraud. (Roll Call) — Updated 4:24 p.m. | Five employees with the Government Accountability Office, and one GAO employee’s spouse, were indicted Tuesday for working to illegally obtain reduced-price lunches for their children. The indictment resulted from the legislative branch agency’s own investigation into the school meals program, which found some of the GAO’s employees applied for the program and underreported their income to gain access to the reduced-price lunches. After the agency discovered the illegal activity, the GAO reported applications to the agency’s inspector general. According to the news release, between 2010 and 2014, the employees’ children received more than $13,000 in reduced-price lunches. The GAO employees named in the indictment include Lynette Mundey, an internal auditor and an outgoing member of the county’s board of education; Barbara Rowley; Jamilah Reid; Tracy Williams; Charlene Savoy; and James Pickney, whose wife is a GAO employee. Pickney allegedly failed to disclose his wife’s income, which rendered his family ineligible for the reduced lunch program.

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

• Kerry: There Is No ‘Better’ Iran Deal
• Trump’s ISIS Strategy: We Have to Knock Them Out, Cut Them Off At Their Wealth
• EMAILS: Clinton to surrender email server to feds; watchdog confirms ‘top secret’ content.

7am – E 2016 News:

• POLLS:
  • Iowa Poll: Bernie Gaining on Hillary. Hillary Clinton still leads the Democratic field in Iowa, but according to a new Public Policy Polling survey of “usual Democratic voters” in the Hawkeye state independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is making gains there. A majority of Iowa Democrats, 52 percent, still support Clinton, while Sanders has 25 percent. That represents what PPP calls a “decent amount of tightening” in the Democratic race since April, with Clinton‘s support dropping from 62 percent and Sanders’s up from 14 percent. Clinton remains highly popular among Democrats in Iowa—75 percent have a favorable opinion of the former secretary of state, down just 3 points from April. But Sanders has increased his profile in Iowa, with 61 percent of Democrats there saying they have a favorable view of the self-described socialist, while just 40 percent.
  • NEW POLL: Poll: Bernie Sanders surges ahead of Hillary Clinton in NH, 44-37. In new Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll shows. Sanders leads Clinton 44-37 percent.
  • Poll finds Clinton losing to four Republican candidates in Iowa. (The Hill) — Hillary Clinton would lose the swing state of Iowa to several potential Republican opponents, according to a new poll from a Democratic-leaning company. The Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released Tuesday showed Clinton getting the worse of match-ups against GOP candidates Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and retired surgeon Dr. Ben Carson.
  • HIGHLIGHTS: Trump spoke in Michigan last night in a big rowdy speech.

8am – A INTERVIEW: Juan Rodriguez, one of the panda keepers at the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution

• Panda pregnancy watch is on at Washington’s National Zoo. The National Zoo’s adult female giant panda has entered a critical phase in her months-long reproductive cycle, the zoo said Monday, suggesting that the cycle may conclude in a few weeks. The zoo said it doesn’t know if Mei Xiang is pregnant, because female pandas exhibit signs of pregnancy even when they are not pregnant. But zoo experts have detected the rise in Mei Xiang’s hormone levels that marks the final part of her cycle. Her hormone levels should rise for the next few weeks, and then come down, at which point she will either deliver a cub or have had a false pregnancy, the zoo said.
• NATIONAL ZOO: Giant Panda Mei Xiang’s Hormones Are Rising. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists have confirmed a secondary rise in giant panda Mei Xiang’s (may-SHONG) urinary progesterone levels. The slow rise started July 20 and indicates that she will either have a cub or experience the end of a pseudopregnancy within 30 to 50 days. Scientists have been carefully tracking Mei Xiang’s hormone levels since she was artificially inseminated April 26 and 27. The inseminations used frozen sperm collected from Hui Hui, a panda living in China, and fresh sperm collected from the National Zoo’s Tian Tian (tee-YEN tee-YEN). The Zoo’s panda team has been monitoring Mei Xiang very closely since the procedures. Veterinarians will continue regular ultrasounds as Mei Xiang chooses to participate in them. They are monitoring changes in her reproductive tract and evaluating for evidence of a fetus. The only way to definitively determine if a giant panda is pregnant is to detect a fetus on an ultrasound. Scientists will also continue to monitor her hormone levels through daily analyses

8am – B John Kerry: Russia and China Likely Read My Emails. (WSJ) — Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday he believed that Russian and Chinese hackers read his emails. “It’s very possible,” Mr. Kerry said in an interview with CBS Evening News. “I certainly write things with that awareness.” The chief diplomat told CBS that fighting cyberattacks is a top priority for the U.S., and that officials have seen China launch attacks on American interests in the past few days. “We are deeply involved in fighting back against this on a daily basis,” Mr. Kerry said. “It has huge consequences, and we are trying to create a code of conduct and a system of behavior that hopefully could rein some of it in. But right now it’s pretty much the Wild West.”

Kerry doubles down on Iran deal, says Tehran has not pursued nuke since 2003. Secretary of State John Kerry doubled down on the controversial Iran nuclear deal Tuesday, telling lawmakers that there was not a better deal available to negotiators and that since 2003 Iran has not pursued a nuclear bomb to the best of America’s knowledge. Speaking in a moderated discussion on the nuclear deal reached with Iran hosted by Thomson Reuters in New York, Kerry tried to counter Republican claims that a better deal can be reached. Kerry told the forum that President George W. Bush tried in 2003 and 2008 to get a better deal, but there “is not a better deal to be gotten.”

Kerry Says Rejection of Iran Nuclear Deal Could Hurt U.S. Dollar. Dollar’s status as global reserve currency at stake, Kerry says. (WSJ) — Secretary of State John Kerry warned Tuesday the U.S. dollar’s status as the global currency could be threatened if Congress blocks the nuclear deal with Iran. The nation’s chief diplomat doubled down on President Barack Obama’s comments last week that scuttling the deal would bolster the case against the dollar as the reserve currency, a sentiment “already bubbling out there,” Mr. Kerry said. Mr. Kerry, speaking at a Reuters event in New York, said if Congress prevents the U.S. from implementing the deal it could put the U.S. at odds with European allies, China and Russia. Those countries helped broker the agreement, and could resist or reject efforts by the U.S. to impose Iran-related sanctions, potentially threatening the U.S. dollar’s status as the global reserve currency, Mr. Kerry said. “If we wind up sanctioning our own allies with whom we’re trying to negotiate the Trans-Atlantic Trade Investment Partnership, the TTIP, you can imagine what the response is going to be,” Mr. Kerry said. “The complications that will grow out of that are enormous, and there will be an increase in this notion that there ought to be a different reserve currency because the United States is misbehaving and not in fact living by the agreements that it negotiates itself.” Mr. Kerry said the Treasury Department would release further analysis on how blocking the deal could affect the dollar.

8am – C Aniston left two ‘Friends’ out of her wedding. (USA Today) — What about your Friends? We assume that’s what Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc were thinking when they saw all the coverage about Jennifer Aniston’s wedding to Justin Theroux — and realized they hadn’t been invited. Her two former co-stars told Entertainment Tonight that they weren’t even aware there had been a wedding. Perry said he’s “very happy for them,” but… “I was surprised. I didn’t know about it.” / LeBlanc echoed his well wishes and added that he was happy Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow were able to make it. “I wasn’t there, so I wish her the best. … The girls were there. You’ve got to have the girls there.”

8am – D INTERVIEW – CHRIS HORNER – Senior Fellow, Center for Energy and Environment. Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud and Deception to Keep You Misinformed and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism

• EPA Chief Apologizes for Toxic Spill Affecting Rivers in Colorado, New
• Shady Hillary Emails: Clinton to surrender email server to feds; watchdog confirms ‘top secret’ content.
• Chris Horner discovered The EPA administrator hiding emails on a personal account. He’s long been commenting on Hillary’s sketchy emails.

8am – E Planned Parenthood Praises Donald Trump: “Donald Trump seems to have realized that banning all abortions, shutting down the government, and defunding Planned Parenthood are extreme positions that are way too far outside the mainstream for even him to take,” said a Planned Parenthood spokesperson on Tuesday. “We hope that the rest of the GOP field will wake up and reconsider their extreme and unpopular positions on defunding preventive care, abortion bans, and the other economic issues that women and their families care about.”