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Mornings on the Mall

Monday, August 24, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith

5am – A/B/C            Here Comes the Romney 2016 Chatter Again. It’s the rumor that won’t die – Mitt Romney running for president in 2016. This time, former Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone says Mitt is thinking about getting back into the race. The Washington Examiner flags a CNN interview with Stone who said Jeb Bush’s lackluster performance so far in the campaign is prompting Romney to take another look at a run. You’ll remember it was the early fundraising prowess of Bush that pushed Romney out of the race. “I do think with Jeb’s failure across the board and his underperformance and that paleo diet, he’s got no energy” said Stone to CNN’s Michael Smerconish. “He’s just flat. There’s no passion there. There’s no-can-do spirit. It’s somnambulant. This is why Trump is just zooming past him.”

5am – D         Stephanopoulos Grills Trump: ‘I Still Haven’t Heard the Specifics.’ Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos grilled Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on his plan to deport the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Trump. they’re saying $406 billion and would require big government apparatus to take everybody down. If you don’t think those numbers are right how much will it cost and where will you get the money.”

TRUMP: It’s costing us $130 billion a year and that’s peanuts compared to what the real cost is, George. The way we have it now. You have so many illegals. We don’t even know how many. I hear 11 million. I hear 30 million. The government has no idea. We have lost control of our country. We’ve lost control of our borders. The government has no idea how many illegals are here. I’ve been hearing 11 billion for five years then I heard 30. nobody has any idea.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: So if there’s no idea how are you going to round them all up, where are you going to get the money and the forces? Exactly how are you going to do it? What are the specifics?

5am – E         Asian shares plunge as Wall St declines fuel more sell-offs. U.S. investors haven’t seen stocks fall so far and fast in years. The nearly 531 point drop on Friday was the biggest plunge for the Dow Jones industrial average since August 8, 2011. It’s still unclear whether it means the end of one of the longest bull markets in history. The correction could end up resetting markets in ways that ultimately benefit most investors, according to some analysts.

6am – A/B/C Men who stopped train attacker awarded France’s highest honor. (USA Today) — French President Francois Hollande awarded France’s highest honor Monday to three Americans and a Briton who tackled a gunman on a train from Amsterdam to Paris. Hollande presented the Legion d’Honneur to U.S. nationals Spencer Stone, 23, Alek Skarlatos, 22, Anthony Sadler, 23, and British citizen Chris Norman, 62. A French citizen who also tackled the man in the incident Friday and who wishes to remain anonymous and a French-American named by Hollande as Mark Moogalian, 51, will also receive the Legion d’Honneur at a later date. Moogalian, who was shot, remains in a hospital.

6am – D         Bao Bao turned 2 and got no attention. Cubs born at National Zoo Saturday marks 3rd time a giant panda living in U.S. has birthed. Hours after giving birth to a cub, giant panda Mei Xiang delivered a second one Saturday night, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo announced. “We can confirm a second cub was born at 10:07,” the zoo tweeted. “It appears healthy.” Mei Xiang gave birth to the first cub Saturday evening relatively quickly — an hour after her water broke.

6am – E         ‘Super lice’ show resistance to over-the-counter treatments in 25 states. WASHINGTON – A new super-strain of lice has evolved in 25 states, including both Virginia and Maryland, and it is apparently immune to most over-the-counter medications. With all the selfie taking and shared electronic use, this so-called “super lice” are being given ample opportunity to easily spread. Researchers presented their findings to the American Chemical Society last week. Their research shows that in 25 states, lice are mutating and evolving in a way that allows them to resist the chemical that is supposed to kill them.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• What Terror? Train Gunman Wanted to Rob People, Lawyer Says
• Ex-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell turns to Supreme Court. Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell Denied Request to Remain Free During Appeal.
• Maureen McDonnell to appeals court: You can clear me and not my husband
• Hillary Clinton campaign scrambling to control damage from ongoing email server investigations

7am – B        In the nation’s capital, a new business to regulate: D.C.’s personal trainers. (Washington Post) — After decades of unregulated existence in all 50 states, the booming field of personal trainers is braced for a wave of scrutiny that is expected to transform the industry and could make or break some of the biggest fitness companies in the country. The new regulations, being written by and for the nation’s capital city, will create a registry of all personal trainers in the District only. But they are expected to become a model that winners and losers in the fight believe will be replicated elsewhere. The credit — or blame — for the newfound urgency can be traced in part to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. A variety of workplace wellness programs and preventive health-care initiatives called for in the law could soon translate into rivers of billable hours for those with credentials to keep American waistlines in check. And that means the race is on to be eligible for those credentials, which could eventually lead to the ability to bill insurance companies for services, much like such professionals as dieticians and physical therapists.

7am – C        It’s Official: Larry Is Married!

7am – D         INTERVIEW: GENERAL JACK KEANE – four star general, former acting Chief of Staff and Vice Chair of the U.S. Army.

• North Korea orders troops on war footing after exchanging fire with South. South Korea demands apology as talks drag on with North over tensions
• Copy of Iran ‘side deal’ backs reports Tehran would have major role in nuke site inspections.

7am – E         INTERVIEW – DAN MITCHELL – Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

• Dan Mitchell is a libertarian economist, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is a proponent of the flat tax and tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty.
• Asian shares plunge as Wall St declines fuel more sell-offs

8am – A         INTERVIEW — REP. DAVE BRAT – R-Virginia

• David Alan “Dave” Brat is an American economist and member of the U.S. House of Representatives serving Virginia’s 7th congressional district. Prior to his election to Congress, Brat was a professor at Randolph–Macon College. His district stretches from the west end of Richmond and its suburbs in Henrico and portions of Chesterfield Counties, through Orange, Culpeper and northward to Page and Rappahannock Counties.
• GOP Rep.: Chamber of Commerce wants to ‘override the will of the people.’ Rep. Dave Brat warned last week that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is trying to nullify voters in districts around the country by working to kick conservative Republican lawmakers out of office for threatening the agenda of the big business group. Brat says two of the biggest goals for the chamber are reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank and legalizing undocumented immigrants.

8am – B         School News:

• Maryland students heading back to school. Record number of children enrolled for 2015-16 school year. (WBAL) — OWINGS MILLS, Md. —Thousands of kids across the state are waking up on Monday and getting ready for the first day of school. Students heading to class today include those in Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard and Frederick counties. Also returning Monday are students in Caroline, Dorchester, Garrett, Allegany and Somerset counties. School also begins Monday for students at area Catholic schools, many of whom will be greeted by Archbishop William Lori.With a new year comes new beginnings and new expectations across the state as Maryland has a record number of students enrolled – more than 1 million – this school year.
• School District Bans All Flags, Including Old Glory. In the wake of the controversy surrounding the Confederate flag, a school district in Tennessee has banned all flags and banners, including the American flag. “While this was not necessarily an attack on the American flag, there were some other issues we’re trying to address,” Dickson County Director of Student Services Steve Sorrells said. “It’s not an unpatriotic act, by any means, because we have a number of ways in which students do learn how to be patriotic and express American pride.” Some students are angry at the flag ban, as they feel their patriotism and freedom of speech are being compromised.

8am – C         Giant panda Mei Xiang gives birth to second cub at National Zoo. (CNN) And then there were two! Hours after giving birth to a cub, giant panda Mei Xiang delivered a second one Saturday night, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo announced. “We can confirm a second cub was born at 10:07,” the zoo tweeted. “It appears healthy.” Mei Xiang gave birth to the first cub Saturday evening relatively quickly — an hour after her water broke.

8am – D         Biden meets with Warren in Washington. *Vice President Joe Biden met privately with Senator Elizabeth Warren on Saturday at his home in Washington D.C., according to CNN. It’s another sign he is seriously deciding whether to jump into the Democratic presidential race. Biden has told associates he intends to make his decision by October 1st. With the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary six months away, Biden is the leading figure Democrats believe they could turn to if they needed an alternative to Hillary Clinton.

8am – E         France Train Hero: ‘Rather Be Active Than Simply Sit In The Corner And Be Shot.’ A British man, Chris Norman, who with three Americans rushed a gunman on a train from Amsterdam to Paris Friday, told reporters he’d “rather be active than simply sit in the corner and be shot.” Norman had joined Americans Airman First Class Spencer Stone, Oregon National Guard Specialist Alek Skarlatos and college senior Anthony Sadler in tackling the attacker. “I heard a shot. I heard some glass breaking. Then I saw somebody running down the aisle to the front of the train. I was facing towards the back. I then stood up to see what was happening. I saw a man with what I think was an AK-47. Anyway, it was some kind of a machine gun or sub machine gun. My first reaction was to sit down and hide,” Norman told reporters Saturday.