MD Minority House Whip Kathy Szeliga, Daily Mail’s David Martosko, WHTHR’s Bob Segall and Sharyl Attkisson joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Trump says his immigration plan will use ‘a deportation force’ to move illegal immigrants beyond America’s borders: ‘They’re going back where they came’ (David Martosko, Us Political Editor For Dailymail.com) — Donald Trump said Wednesday morning that his plan to expel more than 11 million illegal immigrants will require a large federal government agency to physically move them beyond America’s borders. ‘You’re going to have a deportation force,’ the billionaire Republican presidential candidate said on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ program following the GOP field’s fourth primary debate. ‘You’re going to do it humanely,’ Trump promised, while allowing that many illegal immigrants are ‘excellent, wonderful people, some fantastic people, that have been here a long period of time.’

5am – D         VA News:

• Hillary Clinton rolls out plan to reform VA. Derry, New Hampshire (CNN) Hillary Clinton on Tuesday rolled out her plan to address issues within the Department of Veterans Affairs, pledging in New Hampshire to “modernize” the struggling agency and “overhaul” its governance. Speaking at a roundtable, Clinton said the current iteration of the VA is “failing to keep faith with our veterans” and promised, as president, that she would institute and top to bottom review of the maligned agency. “These problems are serious, systemic and unacceptable,” Clinton said. “They need to be fixed, they need to be fixed now.”
• Veterans Affairs pays $142 million in bonuses amid scandals. (USA Today) — WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs doled out more than $142 million in bonuses to executives and employees for performance in 2014 even as scandals over veterans’ health care and other issues racked the agency. Among the recipients were claims processors in a Philadelphia benefits office that investigators dubbed the worst in the country last year. They received $300 to $900 each. Managers in Tomah, Wis., got $1,000 to $4,000, even though they oversaw the over-prescription of opiates to veterans – one of whom died. The VA also rewarded executives who managed construction of a facility in Denver, a disastrous project years overdue and more than $1 billion over budget. They took home $4,000 to $8,000 each. And in St. Cloud, Minn., where an internal investigation report last year outlined mismanagement that led to mass resignations of health care providers, the chief of staff cited by investigators received a performance bonus of almost $4,000.

5am – E         Russia Reveals Secret Nuclear-Armed Drone Sub. High-speed harbor buster shown on TV. (Washington Free Beacon) – A Russian document shown on state-run television confirmed that Moscow is developing a high-speed drone submarine capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. The secret weapon was shown on a document during several Tuesday Russian television broadcasts of President Vladimir Putin announcing plans for new strike weapons capable of defeating missile defenses. Disclosure of the nuclear-tipped, torpedo-shaped weapon was first reported by the Washington Free Beacon and has been dubbed Kanyon by the Pentagon. A Kremlin spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the weapon, which Moscow is calling the Status-6 system, was inadvertently disclosed.

6am – A/B/C Nordstrom holding off on Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. (ABC) — Deck the halls, but not until it’s really the Christmas season. That’s the message sent by signs up at Nordstrom’s stores proclaiming the retailer will be leaving its Christmas decorations in storage until the day after Thanksgiving. While other stores are conforming to what is known as the Christmas Creep, celebrating the holiday season earlier and earlier, Nordstrom is firm in its conviction about when the Christmas season should start: Black Friday. The retailer, which is closed on Thanksgiving, has posted signs explaining its delayed Christmas cheer. “We won’t be decking our halls until Friday, November 27,” the sign reads. “Why? Well, we just like the idea of celebrating one holiday at a time.”

6am – D         INTERVIEW — KATHY SZELIGA – (SH-LEG-GAH) — the minority whip of the House of Delegates and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate

• Delegate Kathy Szeliga announces run for U.S. Senate. Republican is latest candidate seeking to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski
• The primary election is set for April 26, 2016, with the general election set for Nov. 8, 2016.

6am – E         Target accused of trivializing mental illness with ‘OCD’ sweater. MINNEAPOLIS – Target is under fire for a Christmas-themed sweater that some customers say makes light of mental illness. The red, green and white sweater reads ‘OCD Obsessive Christmas Disorder’ an is available at Target for $22.40. On social media some have criticized the garment for trivializing the mental disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Kate Gannon tweeted a photo of the sweater and said, “OCD is a serious mental illness that shouldn’t be mocked.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW — DAVID MARTOSKO — US Political Editor at DailyMail.com

• Trump: Immigration plan will use ‘a deportation force’ to move people (via Mail Online)
• Daily Mail: Joy Behar DEFENDS Carly Fiorina on ‘The View’ as she blasts Hillary Clinton
• Daily Mail: Does Hillary wear a wig? Matt Drudge starts guessing game over Mrs Clinton’s hair – but one of her personal stylists calls it ‘really ridiculous.’    Blogger Drudge has hit out at the Democratic presidential candidate’s hair. He posted pictures on Twitter with captions insinuating she wears a wig. He deleted all previous tweets so his feed is just the five about Hillary’s hair.

7am – B/C     Bob Dole endorses Jeb Bush. Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole has endorsed Jeb Bush for president and will serve as the former Florida governor’s National Veterans’ Chairman, according to the campaign. Dole said that while almost all of the candidates are his friends, he believes Bush is the most qualified.

7am – D         Coming next year, “The Real Housewives of Potomac” POTOMAC, Md. (WUSA9) — Bravo’s hit “Real Housewives” reality series is coming back to the D.C. area. The cable channel announced Wednesday the “Real Housewives of Potomac” will be the latest edition of the long-running reality series. Set in Potomac, Md., the show will follow the lives of six housewives who live in the upscale Montgomery County town. Cast members for the Potomac series include international model Katie Rost and Robyn Dixon, the ex-wife of former University of Maryland basketball star Juan Dixon. In 2010, Bravo aired “The Real Housewives of D.C.” It was not picked up for a second season. “The Real Housewives of Potomac” will premiere on January 17, 2016.

7am – E         Campus Outrage News:

• Student Bullied By Mizzou Professor Says She ‘Needs To Go’ (Daily Caller) – The student-journalist who recorded Melissa Click stifling First Amendment rights on Monday said that the University of Missouri mass media professor “needs to go.” “Her actions are a national embarrassment,” Mark Schierbecker told The Daily Caller on Tuesday. Schierbecker published shocking video showing Click, 44, calling for “muscle” to help remove him as he was trying to record protests taking place after university president Tim Wolfe’s resignation. Schierbecker, a student at the university, had just finished recording a mob of student-protesters bullying a photojournalist named Tim Tai as he was trying to photograph the protests, which were held after school president Tim Wolfe resigned.
• Missouri professor resigns, staffer suspended. (USA Today) — University of Missouri administrators announced Wednesday that they had put a staff member on leave as they investigate her actions during protests on campus following the ouster of the statewide university system’s president earlier this week. The suspension of Janna Basler, director of the Columbia campus’s Greek Life, came as a Missouri professor, Dale Brigham, announced he had offered his resignation after facing backlash for calling on his students to show up for class in the midst of concerns about racially-motivated threats on campus this week. Basler was among students, faculty and staff who were trying to keep reporters away from protesters with the group Concerned Student 1950. The group had established a campsite on the the quad. Video of Basler shows her berating and having physical contact with student-journalist Tim Tai, who was on assignment for ESPN and trying to take photographs of the scene.
• Campus Commotions Show We’re Raising Fragile Kids. (National Review/ Jonah Goldberg) — It seems like every week there’s a new horror story of political correctness run amok at some college campus. A warning not to wear culturally insensitive Halloween costumes sparked an imbroglio at Yale, which went viral over the weekend. A lecturer asked in an e-mail, “Is there no room anymore for a child to be a little bit obnoxious . . . a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?” Students went ballistic. When an administrator (who is the lecturer’s spouse) defended free speech, some students wanted his head. One student wrote in a Yale Herald op-ed (now taken down): “He doesn’t get it. And I don’t want to debate. I want to talk about my pain.” Washington Post columnist (and Tufts professor) Daniel Drezner was initially horrified by the spectacle but ultimately backtracked. Invoking Friedrich Hayek’s insights from “The Use of Knowledge in Society,” Drezner cautions outside observers that “there is an awful lot of knowledge that is local in character, that cannot be culled from abstract principles or detached observers.”

8am – A/B/C INTERVIEW — BOB SEGALL – investigative reporter for WTHR Indianapolis

• Secret IRS policy hides identity theft from victims. IRS Policy Labels Illegal-Alien ID Thieves as “Borrowers.” Excerpt: Bob Segall, investigative reporter for WTHR Indianapolis, has released a new two-part report on illegal immigration and the Internal Revenue Service. Segall won the Center’s Katz Award in 2013 for his 11-part series exposing fraud and mismanagement within the IRS that allowed illegal aliens to receive billions of dollars in improper tax credits and refunds. In his new series, Segall focuses on the IRS policy labeling illegal aliens who use the Social Security numbers of Americans and legal residents merely as “borrowers” against whom no action may be taken by IRS employees. The report interviews the victims, IRS whistleblowers, and even the illegal-alien fraudsters.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — SHARYL ATTKISSON – Investigative journalist and host of new show “Full Measure” on WJLA ABC Sunday mornings at 9:30 am

• Sharyl’s blog: Govt. Researchers: Flu Shots Not Effective in Elderly, After All
• Sharyl’s blog: Why won’t the FBI show me my FBI file –as the law requires?

8am – E         Entertainment News:

• Trailer for ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ Sequel. The Portokalos family soon will pull off a bigger, fatter Greek wedding, undoubtedly with just as many laughs as there were more than a decade ago in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” The sequel is expected to be released on March 25, 2016. The Portokalos family soon will attempt to pull off a bigger, fatter Greek wedding, hopefully with just as many laughs as there were more than a decade ago in the beloved film My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The first trailer for the upcoming sequel, titled My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, released exclusively to the Today show on Wednesday, brings the family back together. Now Toula (Nia Vardalos) and Ian (John Corbett) have been married for several years and have a teenage daughter, Paris (Elena Kampouris), who wants to attend college away from home. Paris echoes her mother’s previous frustrations about her nosey relatives when she says, “They follow me everywhere. I need some air.”
• Gavin Rossdale ‘left Gwen Stefani in hospital to sleep with nanny’ after she gave birth to son Apollo. (Daily Mail) – New reports are suggesting that Gavin Rossdale left wife Gwen Stefani in hospital after she had just given birth so he could sleep with the couple’s nanny. A source told Access Hollywood that the Bush rocker abandoned Gwen, 46, after the arrival of their third son, Apollo, in February last year to hook-up with 20-something Mindy Mann. It follows reports that the musician had a three-year affair with the child minder, causing Gwen to call time on their marriage in a split which the singer has described as ‘unexpected.’
• Increasingly twisted sense of humor could be early sign of dementia – study. Although a warped sense of humor may earn you lots of laughs among your equally twisted friends, it could be an early warning sign of dementia, a new study says. The research found that patients began laughing at inappropriate things prior to being diagnosed. The study, conducted by University College London and published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, questioned the relatives and friends of 48 frontotemporal dementia patients. The study participants were also asked to rate their loved one’s liking of different types of entertainment: slapstick comedy such as Mr. Bean, satirical comedy such as Yes Minister or absurdist comedy such as Monty Python. Dementia patients tended to prefer slapstick over satirical humor, with the study noting that relatives noticed a “shift in patients’ comedy preferences toward the fatuous and farcical” after their diagnoses.

TOMORROW: Trevor Matich and University of Missouri student photojournalist