DC Police Union’s Greggory Pemberton, Washington Post’s Scott Allen, Fairfax Supervisor Dan Storck, Raymond Arroyo and Fox’s Ed Henry joined WMAL on Friday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, April 8, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C Polls Show Unfavorable Views For All Of The Candidates. Would you vote for someone you don’t like?

• A new Associated Press-GfK poll… finds many voters have little love for three of the current presidential hopefuls.  Ted Cruz is viewed unfavorably by 59-percent, 55-percent have negative views of Hillary Clinton.  But at the top of the list .. by far .. is Donald Trump:  70-percent of people, including close to half of Republican voters, have an unfavorable view of Trump.

5am – D         DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW – GREGGORY PEMBERTON – DC Police Union spokesperson on Menace of ATVs in DC

5am – E         Black Lives Matter News:

• ‘Tell the truth:’ Bill Clinton clashes with Black Lives Matter protesters. (Fox News) – Former President Bill Clinton was involved in a heated exchange with Black Lives Matter protesters Thursday at a Hillary Clinton campaign event in Philadelphia, where he was forced to defend his record as president and his wife’s past statements. For almost 15 minutes Clinton sparred with protesters who objected to the 1994 criminal justice reform bill he signed into law as president that increased prison sentences for a number of gang-related offenses. Black Lives Matter activists claim the bill disproportionately hurt African-Americans. A visibly agitated Clinton told the protesters that the bill helped crack down on gangs who were killing African-American children. “I talked to a lot of African-American groups. They thought black lives mattered. They said take this bill because our kids are being shot in the street by gangs. We had 13-year-old kids planning their own funerals,” Clinton said.
• BLM Organizer: ‘The Myth Of Black-On-Black Crime Is Just That — A Myth.’ Aaron Goggans — the core organizer of Black Lives Matter, DC — told CNN’s Carol Costello Thursday that black-on-black crime is a myth. Goggans was responding to a video former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis posted earlier in the week in which he called for removing guns from the streets as a key part of solving the problem of black-on-black crime.  “It’s important to talk about the myth of black-on-black crime as just that — a myth,” Goggans explained. “Any Google search of the term comes up with a lot of different articles.” “So, Ray Lewis is wrong?” interjected Costello. Goggans responded that “Ray Lewis is talking about a lot of myths and preconceptions about what the [Black Lives Matter] movement is.”

6am – A/B/C McAuliffe vetoes concealed guns for abuse victims bill. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed legislation to allow people who are protected by a protective order to carry a hidden handgun without getting a permit. McAuliffe said Thursday that the legislation would have encouraged victims of domestic abuse to introduce guns into already dangerous situations. The governor, a Democrat, tried unsuccessfully earlier this year to amend the legislation. McAuliffe wanted people protected by a protective order to take a firearms safety class before they could carry a concealed weapon, among other changes. Republican supporters of the legislation said it would help victims of domestic violence better protect themselves. McAuliffe also vetoed a bill that would have narrowed the circumstances when a person could be charged for illegally pointing or brandishing a firearm.

6am – D/E     Why People Without Children Shouldn’t Give Parenting Advice. (Madame Noire) — I am a pretty laid back person and I have a pretty thick skin when it comes to criticism.  Hell, even moments where I am “in my feelings” only last a few minutes; it takes a lot to get me angry. With all of that said, there is one thing that annoys me almost more than anything else on the planet: people without children giving me parenting advice. “Yes, more than the sound of nails on a chalkboard, sitting in heavy traffic because people are rubbernecking at a car accident, and more than when people say “fustrate” and “conversate.” There’s just something about people without children giving me parenting advice that drive me up the wall.  When someone who hasn’t procreated responds to “You should (insert counsel here),” it takes almost every fiber of my being to respond with a phrase that rhymes with “What the truck cup.” I am aware that, for the most part, people mean well and aren’t passing judgment.  However, I feel as if this is one of the very few arenas in which everyone feels as if they are experts and they have no experience.  There is no manual on how to raise a child, everyone comes from a parent, and were raised by someone.  How one was raised and how one actually raises their children are very different. For starters, there is something in a person that changes when they become a parent.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — SCOTT ALLEN – Sports writer, Washington Post – discussed the latest sports news on the following: Masters this weekend, Nats game tonight and RG3.

7am – B         2016 New York Primary News:

• Ben Carson: “Probably” Better Choices Than Donald Trump, Doesn’t Mean He’s Not Good. (RCP) – Former presidential candidate Ben Carson, who endorsed Donald Trump, told CNN Thursday there is “probably” better candidates for the Republican nominee for president but it doesn’t mean he’s not good. Carson was on CNN to clarify disparaging remarks he made over the weekend when he was stumping for the Republican frontrunner on a radio show. Carson said Trump has “major defects” as a candidate. Audio issues later in the segment made for an awkward exchange between Carson and the anchors when he tried to explain there is always someone better at something than you are. “Everybody believes that we are weak, we are weak on the world stage, we’re not doing things that make sense economically and he’s probably the person most likely to do that. Are there better people? Probably,” Carson had said. “Do you think there are better people out there who would be a better president than Donald Trump?” CNN’s John Berman questioned Carson. “It doesn’t matter what you’re doing. There are better people than me at neurosurgery. There are better people than you being a broadcaster. There are better people at everything. But we have to utilize what we have we have to make the best of it,” Carson said when confronted about his remarks on the radio.
• Rudy Giuliani is voting for Donald Trump. Donald Trump’s unfavorable rating is unprecedented. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said he’s voting for fellow New Yorker Donald Trump for president in the April 19 Republican primary. “I support Trump. I’m gonna vote for Trump,” Giuliani told The Post Thursday. Giuliani said he expects Trump will get more than 50 percent of the statewide vote and amass a lion’s share of New York’s 95 delegates. “It’s a question of how much he gets over 50 percent. If he wins 70 to 80 delegates, Donald has a good shot of securing the 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination before the convention,” Giuliani said.
• Ted Cruz stands by ‘New York values’ criticism

7am – C         Clinton/Sanders Metro Flubs:

• Hillary Clinton sets Twitter ablaze after struggling to swipe New York subway card. Hillary Clinton was caught struggling to use her subway card to enter a New York City train during a Thursday visit to the city. It took the Democratic presidential frontrunner, a former New York senator, five swipes to finally pass through the turnstile as news cameras and onlookers homed in on the uncomfortable moment. Many people said they found the moment relatable to their own commuter experience.
• Aw, Bernie Sanders Still Thinks We Use Tokens On The Subway. (Gothamist) – As if you needed more proof that Bernie Sanders is essentially your grandfather at the Seder table, it’s been so long since the Brooklyn native regularly took the subway, he still thinks we use tokens. Bernie Sanders is adorable. With the New York Democratic primary on the horizon, the presidential candidate sat down with the Daily News editorial board this week to discuss his platform, voting record, and push for a debate with Hillary Clinton. But somewhere in there, someone asked Sanders about the subway, and it appears he has not yet heard of the MetroCard. “What do you mean, ‘How do you ride the subway these days?'” Sanders said. “You get a token and you get on.” Sanders, who has lived in Vermont since 1968, was apparently unaware that the subway token went extinct in 2003, of which the cause of death, according to a NY Times obituary, was “technology and economics.” Now, of course, we use MetroCards—in the future, we will use fancier technology, or exchange subway rides for barter services, who knows.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — Fairfax Supervisor DAN STORCK represents the Mt. Vernon District, just south of Reagan National on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

• Noisy planes over Fairfax Co. prompt request for changes. WASHINGTON — “Unrelenting” noise from jets taking off and landing at Reagan National Airport are prompting a new request from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for changes to flight paths at the airport. The board agreed Tuesday to send a letter to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and Federal Aviation Administration asking that flight patterns change back to older paths that saw planes rise higher and move farther south before turning off the airspace above the Potomac River. Supervisor Dan Storck represents the Mt. Vernon District, just south of Reagan National. “The noise is deafening and unrelenting,” he says.

7am – E         Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Spar Over Presidential Qualifications. (AP) — Tension flared in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, with the candidates questioning each other’s fitness to lead and Senator Bernie Sanders pressing his attack that Hillary Clinton is not qualified to be president. After weeks of subtle sniping, the frustration first boiled over at a rally in Philadelphia on Wednesday night when Mr. Sanders took issue with recent criticism over his understanding of financial regulation policy and assailed Mrs. Clinton from multiple angles.  And he intensified the attacks Thursday, saying of Mrs. Clinton, “People might wonder about your qualifications when you supported virtually every trade agreement, trade agreements which have cost the American worker millions of decent paying jobs.” The attacks represent a sharpening of Mr. Sanders’s tone as he comes off a string of six straight victories but heads into a more daunting challenge in Mrs. Clinton’s home state, New York, where polls show him lagging behind and he faces tough scrutiny from New York City’s unforgiving tabloids. At the Philadelphia rally Wednesday night, he first raised the issue of Mrs. Clinton not being qualified to lead the country, citing donations to the “super PAC” supporting her. “She has been saying lately that she thinks that I am, quote-un-quote, not qualified to be president,” Mr. Sanders said. “Let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton, I don’t believe that she is qualified if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special interest funds.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW — RAYMOND ARROYO — EWTNews Managing Editor and author of the new children’s book “Will Wilder: The Relic of Perilous Falls.” Book information can be found on his website RaymondArroyo.com

• Pope Francis, Urging Less Judgment, Signals Path for Divorced on Communion.In a broad proclamation on family life, Pope Francis on Friday called for the Roman Catholic Church to be more welcoming and less judgmental, and he seemingly signaled a pastoral path for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive holy communion.

8am – B/C     ‘American Idol’ crowns 15th and final winner as TV show ends. OBAMA appear on Idol and says he wants everyone to vote like American Idol.  Obama continued to address America, but on a more serious issue and one that the audience of American Idol should be paying attention to during a crucial time in our nation like this. “For over a decade this show has motivated millions of young Americans to vote, often and with enthusiasm. We should do the same in our lives as citizens for this country that we love. Voting is the most fundamental and sacred right for democracy. I believe that it should be just as easy as voting on American Idol, and we’re working on that.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – ED HENRY – Fox News Channel Chief White House Correspondent, Covering 2016

• Hillary Clinton sets Twitter ablaze after struggling to swipe New York subway card
• Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Spar Over Presidential Qualifications
• Tell the truth:’ Bill Clinton clashes with Black Lives Matter protesters. Former President Bill Clinton was involved in a heated exchange with Black Lives Matter protesters Thursday at a Hillary Clinton campaign event in Philadelphia, where he was forced to defend his record as president and his wife’s past statements.

8am – E         For the first time in almost 100 years the price of stamps will go down. NEW YORK (WABC) — Here’s something most of us have never heard, the post office is lowering the price of postage stamps. It’s the first time that’s happened in 97 years!  1919 after the end of World War I was the last time the price of a stamp was lower. One stamp will drop two cents, from 49 cents to 47 cents starting Sunday, April 10th. A postcard stamp will lower 1 cent and will cost 34 cents. International mail will be five cents lower, $1.20. Those unfortunate people who had purchased Forever stamps will lose out. The price of Forever stamps will be the current lower value. The reduction is the result of a postal program ending that allowed the post office to raise stamp prices to make up for losses after mail volume dropped during the recession.