DC Fire & EMS Chief Gregory Dean, Trevor Matich, Father Jonathan Morris and Raymond Arroyo joined WMAL on Thursday!

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Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

5am – A/B/C Is The Pope Too Involved Politics? Should A Pope Be Political?

5am – D         DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW – RICK GRENELL – Spokesman to Four U.S. Ambassadors to the UN.

• Alleged Bin Laden Bodyguard Released from Gitmo. Guantanamo Bay: US frees ‘Bin Laden bodyguard’ One of Bin Laden’s Bodyguards Is Leaving Gitmo for Saudi Arabia   A Guantanamo Bay detainee who in 2009 was labeled “too dangerous” for release will now be transferred to Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon said that the release of Abdul Rahman Shalabi, 39, will leave 114 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

5am – E         Critter News:

• Shaq reveals that he has two pet tigers. Shaquille O’Neal (estimated net worth: $250 million) even owns two rare white tigers. O’Neal — who was at Marquee on Monday with fellow NBA stars Stephen Curry, James Harden and Anthony Davis promoting the NBA 2K16 Uncensored video game — revealed he bought the tiger cubs 10 years ago, plus a horse that threw him the first time he rode it. “He said he hadn’t tried to ride again, but he still owns the horse,” a spy told us.
• D.C.’s only cat cafe offered “cat yoga” yesterday. Cat yoga is a thing — and it’s happening in D.C. WASHINGTON — “Who wants to give the cats treats?” Kanchan Singh waves a small box of kibble above her head on the second floor of Crumbs and Whiskers, a cat cafe in Georgetown. Six women dressed in yoga pants take a break from adjusting their mats and snapping photos on their phones to raise their hands. “That was a silly question,” Singh says. She passes out the treats and lets the group know that class will start shortly. Five minutes later, yoga instructor Colure Caulfield takes her place at the front of the sunlit room and addresses the women. “I would be prepared and ready for anything,” she says, calmly. An orange and white cat sits directly below her feet and surveys the room. “The cats have shown some interest in being on your mats and being in your face, so if it happens, it happens … that’s just part of the experience,” she adds. Caulfield is leading Crumbs and Whiskers’ first cat yoga class. Yes, it’s exactly as it sounds: a yoga class in a room full of cats. Singh, who is the founder and owner of Crumbs and Whiskers, says she decided to hold cat yoga because she knew it would appeal to a number of people.
• NYC Has Pizza Rat, Arlington Has Pizza Squirrel. (ARLnow.com) – This week, a very determined rat that was caught on video dragging a slice of pizza down the stairs of a New York City subway station made viral headlines across the country. Arlington now has its own version of the pizza rat. Local resident Valerie Crotty says she spotted a squirrel (above) trying to bring a slice of pizza home with it. In lieu of a video, she relayed an eyewitness account. “Well, he did not go to the Metro because the Silver, Blue and Orange lines were delayed,” Crotty said. “But, I did watch him drag the pizza into bushes on 16th Road so that I would not take it away from him.”

6am – A/B/C Smells Like Teen Spirit ‘the most iconic song ever.’ Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit has been named as the most iconic song eve, thanks to a study which analysed tracks loved by critics. Computer scientist and musician Dr Mick Grierson, from Goldsmiths, University of London, looked at 50 of the greatest songs to see what features they share. He looked at factors including their key, the number of beats per minute, chord variety, lyrical content, timbral variety and sonic variance.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – DC Fire and EMS Chief Gregory Dean

• D.C. Fire and EMS Prepare for Pope’s Visit. Fire chief faces preparation while dealing with current ambulance problems. (Fox 5) — WASHINGTON (MyFOXDC) – For weeks now, the D.C. Fire and EMS department has struggled to handle an ongoing ambulance crisis. As we have reported, there are not enough to handle all of the calls for service — sometimes more than 600 a day. With the pope coming to town next week, that number is sure to grow. However, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief Gregory Dean said they will have more ambulances ready to go during Pope Francis’ visit. A little over a week ago, city officials admitted the fire department had been unable to meet the mayor’s promise of having 49 ambulances on the street and in service during peak hours.

6am – E         2016 News: Trump Picks Fight with Fox and Rich Lowry.

7am – A/B/C What Message Would You Send The Pope?

7am – D         INTERVIEW – TREVOR MATICH — Redskins elite long snapper and WMAL’s Redskins analyst

• PREVIEW: Washington Redskins (1-1) vs New York Giants (0-2), 2nd in NFC Eastern Division, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

7am – E         POPE NEWS:

• Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley spoke about the Pope’s views on Climate Change with USA TODAY’s Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page.
• Congress readies for historic speech by Pope Francis with high security. President Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House during the first full day of the pontiff’s first trip to the United States. WASHINGTON — Before the sun rose Thursday, the U.S. Capitol was already buzzing with activity — and security — as the hour neared for Pope Francis to deliver the first papal speech ever to a joint meeting of Congress.
• Pope Francis meets with Little Sisters of the Poor, nuns involved in an Obamacare lawsuit. Pope Francis met with the Little Sisters of the Poor — nuns who have been in a long battle over an Obamacare contraception mandate — at their home across the street from Catholic University after he celebrated Mass on Wednesday. The pope’s visit to the Little Sisters was a sign of support for them in their legal battle, Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, told reporters. The Little Sisters of the Poor, which operates homes for the elderly in cities across the country, has been in a battle with the Obama administration over the law’s requirement that they allow their insurers to offer free contraception coverage to employees. The Becket Fund senior counsel Mark Rienzi, lead attorney for the Little Sisters, who spoke with one of the nuns after the meeting, said the pope was at their home for about 15 minutes and shook hands and spoke with each one of them in their chapel.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – FATHER JONATHAN MORRIS – Fox News Religion Correspondent, Pastor, Our Lady of Mt Carmel church, Bronx; Author of New York Times bestseller The Way of Serenity – discussed the Pope coming to Congress.

8am – B         2016 News:

• POLL: The Republicans Now Leading The 2016 Field May Surprise You. (Daily Caller) — Businessman Donald Trump, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former CEO Carly Fiorina and Florida Sen. Marco Rubo are leading the field after last week’s Republican presidential debate, according to a new national Fox News poll of Republicans released Wednesday. All four Republicans have gained ground since the last Fox News poll. Trump leads with 26 percent, followed by Carson at 18 percent and Fiorina and Rubio at 9 percent. (In the August poll, Trump was at 25 percent, Carson at 12 percent, Fiorina at 5 percent and Rubio at 4 percent). Notably, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has fallen to 7 percent in the poll. In August, Bush was polling at 9 percent.

• Rich Lowry: Fiorina Cut Trump’s ‘Balls Off With the Precision of a Surgeon.’ National Review Editor and Fox News Contributor Rich Lowry stated that GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina cut other GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s “balls off with the precision of a surgeon” on Wednesday’s “Kelly File” on the Fox News Channel. Lowry was asked if, as Trump had claimed, people said it was “sexist” to say Fiorina’s business career was a “disaster.” He answered, “No, no one disputes that. And, look, Trump obviously attacks everyone, but she’s become a much bigger target. And I think part of what’s going on here, is that last debate. Let’s be honest. Carly cut his balls off with the precision of a surgeon, and he knows it, he knows it. He’s insulted and bullied his way to the top of the polls. No one was able to best him ever, except for this tough lady on that stage, and it must kill him. He must be simmering about it to this night.”

8am – C         Pow! Court Rules Batmobile Worthy of Copyright Protection. (AP) – SAN FRANCISCO — Batman won’t have to worry about Batmobile knockoffs after a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday the caped crusader’s vehicle is entitled to copyright protection. The Batmobile’s bat-like appearance and other distinct attributes, including its high-tech weaponry, make it a character that can’t be replicated without permission from DC Comics, the copyright holder, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said. “As Batman so sagely told Robin, ‘In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential,'” Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote for the three-judge panel.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — RAYMOND ARROYO — Anchor of “The World Over Live” on EWTN Thurs. 8PM Est., EWTNews Director, New York Times Best Selling author – previewed Pope’s speech before Congress.

8am – E         Guantanamo Bay: US frees ‘Bin Laden bodyguard.’ One of Bin Laden’s Bodyguards Is Leaving Gitmo for Saudi Arabia. A Guantanamo Bay detainee who in 2009 was labeled “too dangerous” for release will now be transferred to Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon said that the release of Abdul Rahman Shalabi, 39, will leave 114 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Shalabi is believed to have trained to be the 20th 9/11 hijacker. He was captured in 2001 by the Pakistani army and was among the first group of detainees to be sent to the U.S. military prison. His lawyers have said Shalabi had been on a hunger strike since 2005 and was being force-fed his meals.