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Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Amanda Carpenter

Executive Producer: Heather Smith

5am – A/B/C AP Exclusive: UN to let Iran inspect alleged nuke work site. VIENNA (AP) — Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press. The revelation on Wednesday newly riled Republican lawmakers in the U.S. who have been severely critical of a broader agreement to limit Iran’s future nuclear programs, signed by the Obama administration, Iran and five world powers in July. Those critics have complained that the wider deal is unwisely built on trust of the Iranians, while the administration has insisted it depends on reliable inspections. A skeptical House Speaker John Boehner said, “President Obama boasts his deal includes ‘unprecedented verification.’ He claims it’s not built on trust. But the administration’s briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient – and it still isn’t clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents.” Said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce: “International inspections should be done by international inspectors. Period.” The newly disclosed side agreement, for an investigation of the Parchin nuclear site by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, is linked to persistent allegations that Iran has worked on atomic weapons. That investigation is part of the overarching nuclear-limits deal. Evidence of the inspections concession is sure to increase pressure from U.S. congressional opponents before a Senate vote of disapproval on the overall agreement in early September. If the resolution passes and President Barack Obama vetoes it, opponents would need a two-thirds majority to override it. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has suggested opponents will likely lose a veto fight, though that was before Wednesday’s disclosure. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican senator, said, “Trusting Iran to inspect its own nuclear site and report to the U.N. in an open and transparent way is remarkably naive and incredibly reckless. This revelation only reinforces the deep-seated concerns the American people have about the agreement.”

5am – D         State Department destroyed Clinton aides’ BlackBerrys State Department destroyed Clinton aides’ BlackBerrys. By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times – Wednesday, August 19, 2015 – The State Department destroyed the BlackBerry devices issued to two top aides of former Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and never issued Mrs. Clinton a device at all, officials told a federal court Wednesday in a filing that raises still more security questions. The filing came a day before officials will have to appear in court to detail the steps they took to try to track down Mrs. Clinton’s emails, and whatever computers or other devices she may have used to send them. Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest law firm, has sued to get a look at the emails of Mrs. Clinton and two top aides at State: Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills. All three used email accounts not issued by the State Department to conduct government business, and all three are now under court orders to return those documents to the department to belatedly comply with open-records laws. After Mrs. Clinton said she had deleted messages from her server, Judicial Watch prodded the State Department to try to dig up her electronic devices to see if any messages could be recovered. State, on Wednesday, said that was impossible. “[The department] does not believe that any personal computing device was issued by the department to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and has not located any such device,” administration officials said.

5am – E         DC crime surge and effort to combat illegal guns

• Crime surges across the District. Washington, DC, targets illegal guns as killings surge. Washington will pay a $2,500 reward for a tip leading to gun seizures, up from $1,000. Information leading to an arrest and conviction in a shooting earns a reward of $10,000, up from $1,000, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in a statement.
• D.C. officers accuse Lanier of hindering policing efforts. The chief has blamed the 35 percent surge in deadly shootings — including three within five hours Tuesday afternoon — on a deluge of firearms, repeat violent offenders and petty disputes. Lanier listed motives behind some of this year’s fatal shootings: losses at dice games, a crying baby and thrown rocks. The union says that the number of shootings escalated earlier this year when Lanier dismantled local drug units that had been used to target street dealers. “The open-air drug markets are flourishing,” the union said in a statement, “spurring unchecked violence between the factions fighting for control over the drugs, guns and money.”

6am – A/B/C GOP Candidates Plan To Air TV Ads Attacking Trump. Is That A Smart Move?

6am – D         INTERVIEW – JOE PERSICHINI — (PURR-SEH-CHEE-NEE) — Executive Director of the DC Police Foundation and former Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office for the FBI

6am – E         One drink per day increases risk of cancer in women: Study. (WTOP) —

(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Many studies rave about the benefits of moderate drinking, like the ones that suggest red wine is good for the heart. But now there’s a new study that claims women who drink daily are at more risk for breast cancer. According to a study by Harvard University researchers published in the British Medical Journal, there’s a link between alcohol consumption and cancer in women — specifically, women who enjoy a cocktail per day have an increased risk of cancer, and for breast cancer, an increase of 15 percent. The study also said there’s a link between drinking and cancer in men too, but only for those who have smoked at one point in their lives. Men who never smoked didn’t have the cancer/drinking link, but with women, it didn’t matter if they smoked or not. They were still at risk for cancer if they drank. Researchers recommend women with a history of cancer in their family should consider reducing the amount of alcohol they consume daily.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — JAMES ROSEN – Fox News Channel Chief Washington Correspondent and author of “The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate”

• HILLARY’S EMAILS:

>> JAMES ROSEN: Analysis: Email revelations spur Clinton-Nixon comparisons

 >> Latest on Iran:

>> James was reporting overseas a few weeks ago covering the Iran deal negotiations.

>> AP Exclusive: UN to let Iran inspect alleged nuke work site. VIENNA (AP) — Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press.

>> Bob Menendez becomes second Senate Democrat to oppose Iran deal. (CNN)A high-ranking Democratic senator delivered another blow to President Barack Obama’s legacy-making Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday.

>> Obama administration objects as Russia moves ahead with Iran missile. Despite a ban on arms shipments to Iran under international sanctions, Russia appears willing to proceed with the sale of advanced S-300 surface-to-air missiles to the country — in a development triggering objections from the Obama administration.

7am – B        Dems: Keep Trump’s name off new DC hotel. A pair of Democratic lawmakers are petitioning the Obama administration to block GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump from showcasing his name on the businessman’s new hotel in Washington, D.C. In a letter to the Department of Interior and General Services Administration (GSA), Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) requested that Trump be prevented from having his name “prominently displayed” on the newly refurbished Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue, blocks from the White House. “Trump’s recent and repeated remarks disparaging women, Mexican-Americans, and other Latinos are hateful, divisive and completely inaccurate,” the pair wrote to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and recently confirmed GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth in a letter dated Aug. 13.

7am – C        National Zoo officials believe they’ve spotted a fetus in giant panda. The National Zoo said Wednesday that experts believe they have spotted a developing fetus inside its female giant panda Mei Xiang. Based on the size of the fetus, which is about four centimeters, veterinarians estimate that Mei Xiang could give birth early next week, or possibly in early September. The fetus was spotted by chief zoo veterinarian Don Neiffer during a morning ultrasound test. He said he spotted what appeared to be a rib cage and some cranial structure, and saw the fetus move. “Everything points to this being a really healthy, normal pregnancy at this point,” he said Wednesday. “I am expecting this to progress nicely.”

7am – D/E     Thousands of government emails implicated in Ashley Madison affair. The release of records pilfered by hackers from the infidelity website Ashley Madison may present a headache for thousands of US government and military personnel, who used their official emails to register. According to preliminary analysis of the data, which appeared on the ‘dark web’ on Tuesday, almost 60,000 members have addresses in Washington, DC, and over 15,000 accounts were affiliated with a .gov or a .mil address. As the website DCist pointed out, the leaked records list 15,019 accounts using an email address belonging to domains used by the US government or the military. Some 6,788 accounts used us.army.mil emails, while the Navy and the Marines accounted for 1,665 and 809, respectively. A list compiled by one Twitter user gives a detailed breakdown of all the emails from government domains included in the data dump. The government agency with the most Ashley Madison users – 104 – was the already scandal-ridden Department of Veterans Affairs (va.gov). Federal Bureau of Prisons had 88 email addresses, 52 belonged to the US Postal Service, and 45 to the Department of Homeland Security. Employees of the Social Security Administration (42 emails), the State Department (33) and the IRS (six) were also on the list. Local government employees in the District of Columbia (22) and Montgomery County, Maryland (22 as well) also used work addresses to sign up for extramarital affairs. According to the data dump, there are 44 accounts using a WhiteHouse.gov email address. However, White House officials actually use a different domain, eop.gov, noted The Hill.

8am – A                     INTERVIEW – TUCKER CARLSON – Editor of Daily Caller and co-host of Fox and Friends Weekend

• State Department destroyed Clinton aides’ BlackBerrys State Department destroyed Clinton aides’ BlackBerrys.
• Poll: Support for Sanders climbs as Clinton takes a dip.
• AP Exclusive: UN to let Iran inspect alleged nuke work site.

8am – B         DC Crime Surge:

• Crime surges across the District. Washington, DC, targets illegal guns as killings surge. Washington will pay a $2,500 reward for a tip leading to gun seizures, up from $1,000. Information leading to an arrest and conviction in a shooting earns a reward of $10,000, up from $1,000, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in a statement.
• D.C. officers accuse Lanier of hindering policing efforts. The chief has blamed the 35 percent surge in deadly shootings — including three within five hours Tuesday afternoon — on a deluge of firearms, repeat violent offenders and petty disputes. The union says that the number of shootings escalated earlier this year when Lanier dismantled local drug units that had been used to target street dealers. “The open-air drug markets are flourishing,” the union said in a statement, “spurring unchecked violence between the factions fighting for control over the drugs, guns and money.”

8am – C         Maryland Senate Race:

• Md. Rep. Cummings hires Senate fundraiser. A veteran Senate campaign fundraiser is now working for Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), a potential sign that he will run for higher office. Cummings is not known as a particularly large fundraiser. However, he has significantly more money in his campaign account than Rep. Donna Edwards (Md.), one of two Democratic candidates currently running to replace retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. A poll released by Edwards’s campaign Tuesday showed Cummings is far more popular than either Edwards or her primary rival, Rep. Chris Van Hollen. About 65 percent of survey respondents had a favorable view of the congressman — 20 points higher than Edwards or Van Hollen.

• Campaign poll: Edwards leading Van Hollen by 5 points among DemocratsMaryland Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards released a poll this week that shows her ahead of her primary rival Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) by five points among state Democratic voters in the race for the Senate in 2016, according to her campaign. Democratic pollster Global Strategy Group surveyed 600 likely Democratic voters by phone in the first week of August and found that 42 percent of respondents said they would support Edwards while 37 percent chose to back Van Hollen.

8am – D/E     GOP CANDIDATES GOING AFTER TRUMP: SMART MOVE OR BAD IDEA?

TOMORROW: Sen. Rick Santorum, Mark Levin, Bret Baier, Amanda Carpenter and more!