Legal analyst Joe diGenova, Daily Caller’s Vince Coglianese, Rep. Mike Rogers and guest host Lisa Boothe joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, March 28, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Lisa Boothe

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C Sanders Big Wins: Is Hillary Still Unstoppable? Bernie Sanders Seizes 3 States, Sweeping Democratic Contests. Senator Bernie Sanders routed Hillary Clinton in all three Democratic presidential contests on Saturday, infusing his underdog campaign with critical momentum and bolstering his argument that the race for the nomination is not a foregone conclusion. Mr. Sanders found a welcome tableau in the largely white and liberal electorates of the Pacific Northwest, where just days after resoundingly beating Mrs. Clinton in Idaho he repeated the feat in the Washington caucuses, winning 73 percent of the vote. He did even better in Alaska, winning 82 percent of the vote, and in Hawaii, he had 71 percent with a few precincts still be counted, according to The Associated Press. Washington, the largest prize Saturday with 101 delegates in play, was a vital state for Mr. Sanders, whose prospects of capturing the nomination dimmed after double-digit losses to Mrs. Clinton across the South and weak showings in delegate-rich Ohio, Florida and North Carolina this month. As of Saturday evening, Mrs. Clinton had roughly 280 more pledged delegates, who are awarded based on voting, and 440 more superdelegates — party leaders and elected officials — than Mr. Sanders. At a rally in Madison, Wis., late Saturday afternoon, Mr. Sanders assured supporters that his victories had cleared a viable path to the nomination. “We knew from day one that politically we were going to have a hard time in the Deep South,” Mr. Sanders said. “But we knew things were going to improve when we headed west.”

5am – B/C    

5am – D         Clinton email probe enters new phase as FBI interviews loom – LA Times. Federal prosecutors investigating the possible mishandling of classified materials on Hillary Clinton’s private email server have begun the process of setting up formal interviews with some of her longtime and closest aides, according to two people familiar with the probe, an indication that the inquiry is moving into its final phases. Those interviews and the final review of the case, however, could still take many weeks, all but guaranteeing that the investigation will continue to dog Clinton’s presidential campaign through most, if not all, of the remaining presidential primaries. No dates have been set for questioning the advisors, but a federal prosecutor in recent weeks has called their lawyers to alert them that he would soon be doing so, the sources said. Prosecutors also are expected to seek an interview with Clinton herself, though the timing remains unclear. The interviews by FBI agents and prosecutors will play a significant role in helping them better understand whether Clinton or her aides knowingly or negligently discussed classified government secrets over a non-secure email system when she served as secretary of State.

5am – E         Easter News:

• Pakistanis hunt militants behind blast that killed at least 70. Pakistani authorities on Monday hunted members of a Taliban faction which once declared loyalty to Islamic State after the group claimed responsibility for an Easter suicide bomb targeting Christians that killed at least 70 people. The brutality of Sunday’s attack by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, the group’s fifth bombing since December, reflects the movement’s attempts to raise its profile among Pakistan’s increasingly fractured Islamist militants. At least 29 children enjoying an Easter weekend outing were among those killed when the suicide bomber struck in a busy park in the eastern city of Lahore, the power base of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan is a majority-Muslim state but has a Christian population of more than two million. It was Pakistan’s deadliest attack since the December 2014 massacre of 134 school children at a military-run academy in the city of Peshawar that prompted a big government crackdown on Islamist militancy.
• PEZ cancels annual Easter egg hunt after adults misbehave. (USA Today) — PEZ Candy abruptly canceled its annual Easter egg hunt in Orange, Conn., on Saturday morning after parents disobeyed rules and turned the child-focused tradition “into a mess,” the company said in a statement. “We sincerely tried our best to create a fun, free activity for everyone to enjoy. Due to the actions of a few, the good intent quickly turned into a mess.” PEZ wrote in response to a critical comment on its Facebook page. “We only wanted to do good for the local community.” One parent said her son got a bloody nose from another parent pushing him to the ground, while a third claimed her son’s Easter basket was broken in the rush, the Hartford Courant reported. Orange Police said they did not respond to the event. PEZ said it had over 9,000 eggs on three separate fields, each of which was designated for a particular age group with start times 15 minutes apart, but parents rushed onto the fields before the posted start times. “Somebody pushed me over and take my eggs and it’s very rude of them and they broke my bucket,” 4-year-old Vincent Welch told NBC Connecticut.
• White House Easter Egg Roll is today. The president and first lady join the Easter Bunny to greet participants at the 2015 Easter Egg Roll at the White House.  Children get ready to roll at last year’s White House Easter Egg Roll, which takes place today. More than 35,000 people are expected to participate.  The annual Easter Egg Roll, a 138-year-old tradition, will continue today on the south lawn of the White House. Here, you can see the fun from last year’s event.

6am – A/B/C ‘Distracted walking’ in NJ could soon land pedestrians in jail for 15 DAYS. ‘Distracted walking’ in New Jersey could soon land pedestrians in jail for 15 DAYS if bill is passed that would ban walking while texting. (Daily Mail) – Residents of New Jersey could face a fine or jail time if a proposed ‘distracted walking’ bill is passed.  The measure, which was introduced by New Jersey Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, would ban walking while texting and bar pedestrians on public roads from using electronic communication devices unless they are hands-free.  Violators would face fines of up to $50, 15 days imprisonment or both, which is the same penalty as jaywalking. ‘Distracted pedestrians, like distracted drivers, present a potential danger to themselves and drivers on the road,’ Lampitt said. ‘An individual crossing the road distracted by their smartphone presents just as much danger to motorists as someone jaywalking and should be held, at minimum, to the same penalty.’ The main question raised about the measure is whether it can be enforced consistently by police officers who usually have more pressing matters to deal with.  Some see the proposal as an unnecessary government overreach, while others say they understand Lampitt’s reasoning.

6am – D         Donald Trump, Ted Cruz Trade Barbs Over National Enquirer Report. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump blamed rival Ted Cruz for starting a spat leading up to a report in the National Enquirer claiming “political operatives” are looking into rumors that the Texas senator had multiple marital infidelities. Trump again denied he or his campaign had anything to do with the National Enquirer report. Cruz has blamed the report on Trump and his “henchmen” while forcefully denying it. “I had nothing to do with it. The campaign had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Trump told ABC’s Jonathan Karl on “This Week” Sunday. “I have over control over the National Enquirer.” In an appearance on Fox News, Cruz said he doesn’t believe that Trump had no involvement in the story’s publication. “This story is garbage. It is tabloid smear. It came from Donald Trump and his henchmen,” Cruz said, adding the report is “indicative of just how low Donald Trump will go.” Trump said it was “disgraceful” that Cruz had blamed him for the story. “For him to try and say that I had to do with it, to put the shoe on the other foot, is disgraceful,” Trump said, adding, “By the way, he’s the one that started it,” referring to an ad by an anti-Trump super PAC that featured a racy image of Trump’s wife Melania from her days as a model.

6am – E         Brussels News:

• Belgian police quiz nine people after 13 new raids across Brussels. Belgian police are questioning four new terror suspects after a series of dawn raids across the country. A total of nine people were detained after raids in Brussels and the northern cities of Mechelen and Duffel this morning. Five were released after questioning and four remain in custody. The raids are linked to a ‘federal case regarding terrorism’, according to the federal prosecutor, but it was not clear whether they were tied to the attacks this week in which 31 people were killed. A total of nine people were detained after raids in Brussels and the northern cities of Mechelen and Duffel this morning. Five were released after questioning and four remain in custody..
• Belgian interior minister admits neglect over decades has caused deficiencies in responding to violent extremism. Interior Minister Jan Jambon said the government has invested 600 million euros ($670 million) into police and security services over the past two years but said its antiquated justice system and security services were still lagging behind. Jambon, whose offer to resign on Thursday was declined by the prime minister, said errors were made prior to the March 22 suicide bombing attacks in Brussels that killed at least 28 people and wounded 270 others. “There have been errors,” Jambon said Sunday, when questioned by VRT television about his offer to resign.
• US says two more Americans dead in Brussels attacks, total now four. Washington (AFP) – The US State Department has confirmed the deaths of two more Americans in the Brussels suicide attacks, bringing the total number to four.
• Riot police fire water cannon at far-right protesters in Place de la Bourse #Brussels. Protesters chanting far-right slogans disrupted a peaceful remembrance for terrorism victims on Sunday in central Brussels.

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

• Clinton email probe enters new phase as FBI interviews loom – LA Times
• Pentagon chief used personal email account until December. WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ash Carter used his personal email account for government business for nearly a year, until December 2015, when news reports revealed the practice, according to hundreds of Carter emails released by the Defense Department.
• Clinton to attack Grassley over Supreme Court blockade. In a speech about the Supreme Court that Clinton is scheduled to deliver at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the Democratic front-runner is expected to single out Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and challenge him to hold hearings on the nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated last month by the death of Antonin Scalia, according to a campaign official. On Monday, Clinton’s targeting of Grassley will be part of what a campaign aide described as a sustained effort to rip into Senate Republicans for failing to hold a hearing for a qualified court nominee.

7am – B         2016 News:

• Bernie Sanders Seizes 3 States, Sweeping Democratic Contests

• Bernie Sanders to Superdelegates: “If A Candidate Wins Your State By 40 or 50 Points, Who Are You Going To Give Your Vote To?”
• Trump’s new foreign policy motto: ‘America First’
• Guns at GOP convention petition nears 35K, Trump wants to study ‘fine print’

7am – C         MARCH MADNESS / NCAA

• Virginia out of #NCAATOURNAMENT after 68-62 loss to Syracuse. No. 10 Syracuse comes back and takes out No. 1 Virginia to advance to the Final Four.
• NCAA suspends Boeheim, cuts scholarships. NCAA penalizes Syracuse, Boeheim.   The NCAA on Friday suspended Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim for nine ACC games, took away 12 scholarships, and ordered that 108 wins be vacated as a result of a multiyear investigation into the university’s athletic programs. “Over the course of a decade, Syracuse University did not control and monitor its athletics programs,” the NCAA said in a statement, “and its head men’s basketball coach failed to monitor his program.” Syracuse’s penalties also include a five-year probation and the vacating of all wins in which ineligible men’s basketball student-athletes played during the 2004-07 and 2010-12 seasons, and in which ineligible football student-athletes played in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In addition, the NCAA agreed to accept the university’s decision for the men’s basketball team not to participate in any postseason games this season, including the ACC tournament. The NCAA said that the violations, which were self-reported by Syracuse and dated back to 2001, included academic misconduct, extra benefits, failure to follow the drug-testing policy and impermissible booster activity.
• Villanova knocks out Kansas in thriller to reach Final Four. LOUISVILLE — Villanova showed the stuff of a champion in punching its ticket to the Final Four. The second-seeded Wildcats weathered a furious comeback attempt by No. 1 Kansas and held on to win the NCAA South Region final 64-59 on Saturday night at the KFC Yum Center. They advance to the national semifinals next Saturday in Houston to face Buddy Hield and Oklahoma, whom they lost to by 23 points on Dec. 7. Villanova is in the Final Four for the first time since 2009 and fifth time in school history. The Wildcats (33-5) finished a classic off with clutch free-throw shooting, exemplary defense and coming out on the right end of an official’s call.

7am – D         Candy-Crazed Parents Blamed For Ruining Kids’ Easter Egg Hunt

“Everyone just rushed the field and took everything.” A free Easter egg hunt for children at the PEZ Visitor Center in Connecticut was ruined by a group of unruly parents, organizers say. It was more than just a few bad eggs. A free Easter egg hunt that was supposed to be a fun event for children turned into chaos on Saturday as unruly parents stormed the field, pushing, shoving and even stealing children’s candy from their baskets, outraged parents and organizers say. “The parents just bum-rushed that area,” Nicole Welch told local news station WFSB-TV of the scene outside the PEZ Visitor Center in Orange, Connecticut. “When my son left, he had a broken basket and was hysterically crying.” The center’s general manager, Shawn Peterson, said event organizers had spread more than 9,000 eggs across three fields that were sectioned off per age group. Before kids had a chance to start hunting, however, parents were racing on the field to gobble up the candy-filled eggs.

PEZ cancels annual Easter egg hunt after adults misbehave. (USA Today) — PEZ Candy abruptly canceled its annual Easter egg hunt in Orange, Conn., on Saturday morning after parents disobeyed rules and turned the child-focused tradition “into a mess,” the company said in a statement. “We sincerely tried our best to create a fun, free activity for everyone to enjoy. Due to the actions of a few, the good intent quickly turned into a mess.” PEZ wrote in response to a critical comment on its Facebook page. “We only wanted to do good for the local community.” One parent said her son got a bloody nose from another parent pushing him to the ground, while a third claimed her son’s Easter basket was broken in the rush, the Hartford Courant reported. Orange Police said they did not respond to the event.

White House Easter Egg Roll is today. The president and first lady join the Easter Bunny to greet participants at the 2015 Easter Egg Roll at the White House.  Children get ready to roll at last year’s White House Easter Egg Roll, which takes place today. More than 35,000 people are expected to participate.  (CNN) The annual Easter Egg Roll, a 138-year-old tradition, will continue today on the south lawn of the White House. Here, you can see the fun from last year’s event. This year’s theme is “Let’s Celebrate!”

More than 35,000 people will be joining the first family.

7am – E         Nuclear Weapons News:

• North Korea threatens nuclear strike on DC | North Korea on Saturday released a video threatening a nuclear strike on Washington if provoked. The four-minute video titled “Last Chance” uses computer animation to depict a ballistic missile hitting Washington, followed by a nuclear explosion. “If the American imperialists provoke us a bit, we will not hesitate to slap them with a pre-emptive nuclear strike,” the video says in Korean, according to the New York Times.  “The United States must choose! It’s up to you whether the nation called the United States exists on this planet or not.”
• Nikki Haley: Don’t ship nuclear material to SC. South Carolina. Gov. Nikki Haley is calling on the Department of Energy to stop a shipment of nuclear material that is scheduled to be stored in her state, according to CNN. In a letter to Secretary Ernest Moniz on Wednesday, Haley demanded that the agency “stop shipment or re-route” about 730 pounds of weapons grade plutonium being transported from Japan. “Continued shipments of plutonium into our state puts South Carolina at risk for becoming a permanent dumping ground for nuclear materials. It is imperative to the safety of our citizens and our environment that South Carolina not allow this to happen,” Haley said in the letter. The shipment was agreed upon between the two countries during the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in an effort improve nuclear security worldwide. The U.S. plans to convert the material into “less sensitive forms,” according to a White House statement.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — VINCE COGLIANESE – (KAH-LIN-NAYS) – Executive Editor, The Daily Caller

• Democratic caucuses this weekend: Bernie Sanders Seizes 3 States, Sweeping Democratic Contests.
• Sanders: Many superdelegates may switch to me after Saturday sweep
• Cruz vs Trump sparring: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz Trade Barbs Over National Enquirer Report

8am – B         Entertainment News;

• Hugh Jackman saved a man and child from a fierce riptide at in Sidney — details: Just another day in the life of Hugh Jackman. The Wolverine star bravely saved a man and his own two children from a riptide at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in Australia on Saturday, March 26, and the clip of the rescue has gone viral. In it, Jackman, 47, can be seen moving toward one man as he holds onto a girl (later revealed to be Jackman’s daughter Ava, 10), pulling them away from the dangerous waves. The actor later motions for his teenage son Oscar, 15, to move closer to shore and out of harm’s way. A lifeguard can be seen blowing her whistle to signal the disturbance.
• ‘Batman v Superman’ earns a whopping $424 million worldwide. Batman V Superman Opens With $424 Million Globally, Biggest Ever For a Comic Book Movie. While Warner Bros.’ Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice didn’t open as big as some Marvel movies have here in North America, the film brought in $424 million in its opening weekend, making it the biggest worldwide opening for any comic book movie in history. Ahead of the movie are only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 for all-time global openings. Batman V Superman comes in ahead of Furious 7 and both Avengers movies, each of which earned between $390 and $400 million in their opening frames. Unilever knows that a successful business needs input from everyone, and so we’re proud of female leaders like these women. In North America, the film enjoyed the sixth-largest opening weekend of all time, behind The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, both Avengers movies and Iron Man 3.
• After criticism, Robert De Niro decides to pull anti-vaccination film from #TribecaFilmFest: NEW YORK (AP) — Robert De Niro is removing the anti-vaccination documentary “Vaxxed” from the lineup of his Tribeca Film Festival, after initially defending its inclusion. “Vaxxed: From Cover-up to Conspiracy,” was set to be part of the film festival when it opened next month. The decision to include the film by anti-vaccination activist Andrew Wakefield came under fire, particularly since Wakefield’s contention that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine have a link to autism have been discredited. While De Niro on Friday defended the decision to include the film, he released a statement Saturday saying he had reversed his decision. De Niro, who has a child with autism, said he had hoped to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue “that is deeply personal to me and my family.” However, he said after he and Tribeca organizers reviewed it, “We do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for.” He said members of the scientific community also had reviewed it with him.

8am – C         Trump Tweets:

• It’s a boy! Ivanka Trump gives birth to third child. Ivanka Trump, daughter of the Republican front-runner Donald Trump, has given birth to a baby boy, she announced via Twitter Sunday. Theodore James is her third child with her husband Jared Kushner. “Jared and I feel incredibly blessed to announce the arrival of Theodore James Kushner,” Ivanka Trump tweeted.
• Melania Trump tweets for first time since July 4. Melania Trump is breaking her silence on Twitter.  The wife of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump had not tweeted since July 4, just weeks after Trump announced he was running for president.  She took to Twitter on Sunday to wish her followers a Happy Easter.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — REP. MIKE ROGERS — former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee

• Belgian police quiz nine people after 13 new raids across Brussels.
• Belgian interior minister admits neglect over decades has caused deficiencies in responding to violent extremism.
• US says two more Americans dead in Brussels attacks, total now four.
• Riot police fire water cannon at far-right protesters in Place de la Bourse Brussels
• Pakistanis hunt militants behind blast that killed at least 70.
• North Korea threatens nuclear strike on DC.
• Nikki Haley: Don’t ship nuclear material to SC.

8am – E         Microsoft created a Twitter bot to learn from humans. It quickly became a racist jerk.  Microsoft set out to learn about “conversational understanding” by creating a bot designed to have automated discussions with Twitter users, mimicking the language they use. What could go wrong? If you guessed, “It will probably become really racist,” you’ve clearly spent time on the Internet. Less than 24 hours after the bot, @TayandYou, went online Wednesday, Microsoft halted posting from the account and deleted several of its most obscene statements. The bot, developed by Microsoft’s technology and research and Bing teams, got major assistance in being offensive from users who egged it on. It disputed the existence of the Holocaust, referred to women and minorities with unpublishable words and advocated genocide. Several of the tweets were sent after users commanded the bot to repeat their own statements, and the bot dutifully obliged. But Tay, as the bot was named, also seemed to learn some bad behavior on its own. According to The Guardian, it responded to a question about whether the British actor Ricky Gervais is an atheist by saying: “ricky gervais learned totalitarianism from adolf hitler, the inventor of atheism.”