VA Delegate Tim Hugo, Washington Post’s Ishaan Tharoor, Newt Gingrich and Larry Kudlow joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Obama Defends U.S. Strategy Against ISIS. (NPR) — At a news conference in Turkey on Monday, President Obama defended his administration’s strategy against ISIS, calling Friday’s deadly terrorist attacks in Paris “outrageous.” He said, however, the U.S. would not send additional ground troops into Syria to combat the Islamic State. The president spoke in Antalya, where he’s meeting with other leaders of the G-20. Obama told reporters the U.S. has been worried about “these kinds of attacks,” but said there was no specific intelligence of the Paris attack that the U.S. could have passed on to French authorities or acted on itself. Obama said those behind the attack are “killers with fantasies of glory” who are savvy with social media. The President announced a new agreement that he said will streamline the process “by which we share intelligence and operational military information with France.”

5am – D         DC Terror Threat:

• ISIS Threatens to Attack Washington in New Video. ISIS delivered a new threat to the United States in a video released today, claiming that it will carry out an attack on the nation’s capital. The terror group, which quickly claimed credit for the deadly Paris attacks last Friday, said that the carnage in France was just the beginning. CIA Director John Brennan said the attacks in Paris should serve as a wake-up call for Americans.
• Metro increases patrols, sweeps, screenings after Paris Attacks. (Fox 5 DC) – WASHINGTON – The Metro Transit Police Department has taken several steps in response to the deadly terror attacks in Paris, Metro announced Monday.    Increased patrols: Riders will likely notice an increased police presence throughout the transit system. Additional K-9 sweeps: More than 20 K-9 teams are conducting security sweeps in and around rail stations and other critical infrastructure.    Expanded random explosives screening: Any bag or package carried onto the system may be subject to screening.

5am – E         Critter News:

• G20 catwalk: Trio of felines makes appearance at annual summit. Some uninvited guests made an appearance at the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey – and you could say they were the cutest attendees at the event. Three cats strolled on stage like they owned the place, eventually walking off when they got bored.
• Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin upstaged by three cats at G20 Summit in Turkey. ‘Sadly, not in Catstantinople’ (Independent) — Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, leaders of the most powerful G20 nations, were upstaged by three cats at the G20 Leader’s Summit. Reporters attending the summit shared footage on Twitter of the three cats running across the stage. In the video, two cats move across the stage. One stops to inquisitively sniff some flowers laid near the back of the stage. Moments later, a third cat runs after them to catch up. It didn’t take long for other Twitter uses to joke about the occurrence. “These cats are for security – they have Nano cameras on them,” one joked. “But sadly, not in Catstantinople,” lamented another.
• Maryland wildlife workers free hungry black bear’s head from milk can. THURMONT, Md. – In an episode reminiscent of “Winnie the Pooh,” Maryland state wildlife workers used an electric hand saw to remove a milk can that was stuck on the head of a bear. Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Karis King says the wildlife response team was called early Monday to a rural location near Thurmont to rescue an adult male black bear with his head stuck inside a metal milk can.

6am – A/B/C Obama rips Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz’s Christians-only refugee remarks as ‘shameful.’ In a speech Monday closing the G20 summit in Turkey, President Obama criticized the Republican presidential candidates who have said they want to close U.S. borders to Syrian refugees, unless they are Christian. “When I hear folks say that maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims, when I hear political leaders suggesting there should be a religious test for which a person fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted… that’s shameful. That’s not American. That’s not who we are,” he said. Both Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz heralded this point of view over the weekend. Cruz said Muslim refugees from Syria should be barred, but Christians are OK. “There is no meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror,” he said in an interview.

6am – D         Hogan Press Conference Highlights:

• Gov. Hogan’s cancer is in remission, 30 days after he completed chemo. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that medical scans show no sign of the cancer he was diagnosed with five months ago, indicating that 18 weeks of intensive chemotherapy have put the disease into remission. Doctors will continue to monitor Hogan (R) regularly for signs of a recurrence. But at this point, the test results are the best possible news for the first-term governor, whose battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma has made him an advocate for cancer patients and caused him to juggle state responsibilities with treatments that compromised his immune system and left him weaker. “Incredibly, as of today, I am 100 percent cancer-free,” Hogan said at an emotional news conference in the governor’s reception room of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, which was packed with family members, friends, aides and well-wishers.
• Md. governor promises ‘very reasoned’ decision on refugees. ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says the state will “make a very reasoned and careful decision” about how it will proceed in policy regarding potential Syrian refugees. The Republican governor said Monday the issue is one that “we’ll be looking at very closely.” Hogan said Maryland has been in contact with President Barack Obama’s administration. Hogan says an internal group in his own administration “has been sitting down looking at the options.”

6am – E         FLOTUS brings Broadway to the White House. WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama is taking another trip to Broadway— without hitting the bustling streets of New York City’s Times Square. The first lady welcomed stars from Broadway to the White House Monday as she celebrated the history of live theater, what she calls a “cornerstone” of the nation’s cultural heritage. The East Room performance featured music from “Fun Home,” ”An American in Paris,” ”School of Rock,” and “Something Rotten.” Performers included Gloria Estefan singing from “On Your Feet!,” a story of her life, and former “Glee” star Matthew Morrison with an ensemble from “Finding Neverland.” Some of the students also had the opportunity to perform in “Broadway at the White House,” which will air on the TLC network Thanksgiving Day.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – VA DEL TIM HUGO — representing the 40th district, which includes the municipalities of Catharpin, Clifton, and Fairfax Station and is the Majority Caucus Chairman for the Virginia House Republican Caucus

• Delegates Call on the Governor to Stop Syrian Refugee Resettlement in Virginia. Delegates Hugo, Gilbert, Habeeb, and Loupassi call on Governor McAuliffe to refuse the resettlement of Syrian refugees for two years. November 16, 2015 (Fairfax, VA) — Virginia House of Delegates Majority Caucus Chairman Tim Hugo (R–40), Deputy Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-15), Delegate Greg Habeeb (R-08) and Delegate Manoli Loupassi (R-68), on Monday called on Governor McAuliffe to refuse Syrian refugee resettlements in Virginia for a two year period.
• Gov. McAuliffe won’t ban Syrian refugees from VA. RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) – Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is not joining the ranks of governors vowing to prevent Syrian refugees from entering the state. While governors from Louisiana to Texas to Massachusetts have said no to the refugees, a spokesman for Gov. McAuliffe says “we have no changes in policy to announce at this time.”

7am – B/C     Wary governors halt, question plan to accept Syrian refugees. More than half the nation’s governors say Syrian refugees not welcome. (CNN) More than half the nation’s governors — 27 states — say they oppose letting Syrian refugees into their states, although the final say on this contentious immigration issue will fall to the federal government. States protesting the admission of refugees range from Alabama and Georgia, to Texas and Arizona, to Michigan and Illinois, to Maine and New Hampshire. Among these 27 states, all but one have Republican governors. The announcements came after authorities revealed that at least one of the suspects believed to be involved in the Paris terrorist attacks entered Europe among the current wave of Syrian refugees. He had falsely identified himself as a Syrian named Ahmad al Muhammad and was allowed to enter Greece in early October.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – ISHAAN THAROOR — (Ee-SHAHN thuh-ROOR) – foreign affairs writer for The Washington Post.

• THAROOR: U.S. Republicans see a clash of civilizations. French president says no.
• THAROOR: What Americans thought of Jewish refugees on the eve of World War II. “Today’s 3-year-old Syrian orphan, it seems, is 1939’s German Jewish child.”

7am – E         Viral video triggers run on Patti LaBelle sweet potato pies at Wal-Mart. (Fox 5 DC) — Two million pounds of sweet potatoes. That’s what it’s going to take to get Patti LaBelle’s suddenly famous sweet potato pie back onto shelves at Wal-Mart. Which means the pie that became a viral sensation during the weekend — selling roughly one every second — after a customer sang its praise in a YouTube video may not be back in time to grace your Thanksgiving table. Not that Wal-Mart isn’t trying. “There’s a lot of moving parts. The suppliers have been working all weekend,” Kerry Robinson, vice president for bakery and deli at Wal-Mart, said Monday. The sweet potato surge started Thursday, the day after James Wright posted a video of himself eating a slice of the pie, which Wal-Mart launched in September. In the video — now viewed millions of times — Wright bursts into LaBelle song and dance as he eats. Within 24 hours, social media was buzzing about Wright and the pie, and Wal-Mart stock was running low.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — NEWT GINGRICH — former Speaker of the House, former presidential candidate and author of new fiction book, a DC thriller, titled “Duplicity”

• Congress may bar funding to bring Syrian refugees into U.S. (USA Today) — WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans moved Monday to try to block funding for President Obama’s plan to bring more than 10,000 Syrian refugees into the U.S., reflecting growing concerns by lawmakers that those refugees could include Islamic State terrorists.       At least one of the terrorists who attacked Paris on Friday reportedly entered Europe through Greece amid a group of Syrian refugees, sparking calls from congressional leaders to rethink the administration’s $1.2 billion refugee resettlement plan. Obama has called for the U.S. to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees during the 2016 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, sent a letter Monday to the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting that any upcoming spending bills require congressional approval for the president’s refugee plan and for the funds to carry it out.
• Obama, Congress heading for budget showdown over Syrian refugees. (Reuters) — Congress is expected to pass a sweeping “omnibus” spending bill by Dec. 11 to keep federal agencies running next year. Any language to derail Obama’s refugee plan would be opposed by the White House, sparking a potential showdown over how to keep the government open.

8am – B         Entertainment News:

• Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Hollywood Reporter) – James Taylor is also among those that have been awarded the honor. Director Steven Spielberg, singer James Taylor and multihyphenate Barbra Streisand are set to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Obama administration said on Monday. Producer Emilio Estefan, singer-songwriter Gloria Estefan and conductor Itzhak Perlman are also among Hollywood notables who will receive the honor on Nov. 24 at the White House. Composer Steven Sondheim, who was awarded the honor last year but wasn’t able to attend the 2014 ceremony, will be awarded the honor this month.
• Charlie Sheen reveals he’s HIV positive in TODAY Show exclusive. Charlie Sheen revealed he is HIV positive Tuesday in an exclusive TODAY interview with Matt Lauer. “It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life,” the 50-year-old actor said.

8am – C         With ties to slavery, Georgetown buildings to be renamed. WASHINGTON (AP) — Georgetown University has announced it will rename two buildings that had been named for school presidents who organized the sale of slaves to help pay off campus debt in the 1830s. The Washington Post reports university President John J. DeGioia sent an email to the Georgetown community Saturday evening saying he was changing the names based on a recommendation from his Working Group on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation. Mulledy Hall is a dormitory named for President Thomas F. Mulledy, who authorized the sale of 272 slaves to a Louisiana plantation owner in 1838. It will be called Freedom Hall until a permanent name is chosen. McSherry Hall, which houses a meditation center and was named for President William McSherry, will be called Remembrance Hall until it’s renamed. McSherry advised Mulledy during the 1838 sale.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm – discussed the refugee crisis, the markets and GOP candidates’ tax plans.

8am – E         ‘Blood on his hands’: CIA officials, others implicate Snowden disclosures in Paris attack. (RT) — The violence in Paris has prompted former and current CIA directors, and even a presidential candidate, to blame the inability to thwart attacks on “unauthorized disclosures” by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, despite admitting intelligence failures. “In the past several years, because of a number of unauthorized disclosures and a lot of handwringing over the government’s rolctions the in the effort to try to uncover these terrorists, there have been some policy and legal and other aat are taken to make our ability collectively internationally to find these terrorists much more challenging…” CIA Director John Brennan told a reporter who asked how the Paris attack had happened when the world’s leading intelligence agencies “didn’t even catch a whiff of it as far as we’re to understand.”

Joystick jihad: Sony’s PlayStation 4 could be terrorists’ communication tool, experts warn. After Friday’s horrific terror attacks on Paris, security experts are weighing the frightening possibility that Sony’s PlayStation 4 has become a communication tool for terrorists. Three days before Friday’s terrifying events in the French capital, Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon warned that terrorists have harnessed the popular game console to pass messages between each other, making communications difficult, if not impossible for intelligence experts to track. “The most difficult communication between these terrorists is via PlayStation 4,” said Jambon at a conference organized by Politico. “It’s very, very difficult for our services — not only Belgian services but international services — to decrypt the communication that is done via PlayStation 4.”

TOMORROW: KT McFarland, Sen. Rand Paul and Richard Kelsey