Baltimore Sun’s Pamela Wood, Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer and Larry Kudlow joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Donald Trump blasts Colorado GOP for ‘corrupt system’ in picking delegates. (Fox News) — Republican front-runner Donald Trump blasted Colorado’s GOP leadership late Monday, calling the way the state divvied up its delegates a “dirty system.” At a campaign rally in Albany, N.Y., the real estate mogul told the crowd “there’s been so much pressure – like in Colorado, which was a total fix. There’s so much – the people all wanted to vote. They took away their votes.” Over a series of several days, Colorado Republicans picked delegates on the congressional and statewide level for the national convention in Cleveland. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz swept the state, winning all delegates for the national convention.

5am – D         End of Bank Tellers? Gone from the cutting-edge bank: Tellers. Wells Fargo and other banks are increasingly using technology and online services that reduce the need for traditional tellers. When Wells Fargo opened its first high-tech branch three years ago in the District’s NoMa neighborhood, it did away with desks and replaced traditional counters with large touch-screen ATMs. Also gone from its new location: tellers. Instead, the 1,000-square-foot branch has a handful of tablet-toting employees to help customers navigate technology to deposit checks, apply for loans or open savings accounts. It’s a model that’s being replicated throughout the region, leading to a shift in the number — and types — of employees at area banks. The number of banks tellers in the region has dropped by nearly half in the past 10 years, from 10,980 in 2005 to 5,990 in 2015, outpacing a 17 percent drop nationally, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall employment in the Washington region rose 7.3 percent in the same period.

5am – E         Man gets cup from St. Augustine Starbucks that says ‘DIABETES HERE I COME’ on label. ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Some need a pick me-up in the early mornings. Many people head to Starbucks for their dose of caffeine. However, one customer received an unexpected comment on their coffee cup label: “DIABETES HERE I COME.” That’s the message printed on a grande cup of white mocha served to a customer at the Palencia Starbucks. A photo of the message on the cup was shared with Action News Jax on Facebook “That first word just automatically brought the picture of both sisters in my head, and I was taken aback,” said the Starbucks customer. This customer told Action News Jax he works near the coffee shop and a fellow employee picked up coffees for their staff.  His cup had the unusual message. He told Action News Jax the diabetes statement hits close to home because his two sisters suffer from type 1 diabetes.

6am – A         Maryland General Assembly session ends with criminal justice reforms, no income tax breaks. (Baltimore Sun) — The General Assembly agreed Monday to sweeping changes in Maryland’s criminal justice policies, but failed to reach a deal that would have given residents their first major income tax break in nearly two decades. “We wish we had come to an agreement, but we didn’t,” House Speaker Michael E. Busch said. The tax negotiations unraveled in the hours before the Assembly’s midnight deadline to adjourn, prompting Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller to suggest the “remote possibility” the legislature hold a special session to approve what was once a widely supported plan to reduce taxes by roughly $250 million. Democrats negotiating the cuts got stuck over how far up the income scale the breaks should go. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Democratic leaders “dropped the ball” and questioned the value of recalling lawmakers to Annapolis, which would cost roughly $20,000 each day the legislature is convened.

6am – B         National Weather Service will stop writing in ALL CAPS.  Do you know any one does this? Anyone who yells at you in CAPS when texting you, emailing you or on social media?

• National Weather Service will stop using all caps in its forecasts. Farewell teletype, hello mixed-case characters. LISTEN UP!  BEGINNING ON MAY 11, NOAA’S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTS WILL STOP YELLING AT YOU. NOAA’s National Weather Service is no longer using all caps for forecast products. New forecast software is allowing the agency to break out of the days when weather reports were sent by “the wire” over teleprinters, which were basically typewriters hooked up to telephone lines. Teleprinters only allowed the use of upper case letters, and while the hardware and software used for weather forecasting has advanced over the last century, this holdover was carried into modern times since some customers still used the old equipment.

6am – C         Bono to testify Tuesday before Congress. (The Hill) — The U2 front man and co-founder of the ONE campaign, an anti-poverty organization, is poised to testify Tuesday afternoon at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on violent extremism and the role of foreign assistance. A ONE spokesman tells ITK the politically active singer visited refugee camps in Kenya, Jordan and Turkey earlier this month. The sunglasses-sporting entertainer will “discuss the connection between immediate humanitarian response and long-term development efforts” at the Dirksen Senate Office Building hearing. Bono, 55, is no stranger to Capitol Hill — the Irish-born entertainer has made several visits over the years to meet with lawmakers and testify before Congress.

6am – D         SPORTS NEWS:

• Most expensive tickets of the NBA regular season are Wednesday (Lakers & Warriors). Kobe Bryant’s finale, Warriors’ win quest equal season’s top-priced tickets. (ESPN) – The most expensive games of the NBA season for fans will take place on Wednesday with Kobe Bryant’s last game in Los Angeles and the Warriors going for history with win No. 73 in Oakland. Fans have paid a StubHub average of $971 for a ticket at the Staples Center to see No. 24 take the final shots of his 20-year NBA career for the Lakers, against the Jazz, while StubHub data shows the average price paid for the Grizzlies-Warriors game on Wednesday night is now $436. “It is virtually unprecedented to see the two highest-priced regular-season games of the year take place in the last game of the season at games with no playoff stakes involved,” StubHub spokesman Glenn Lehrman said.
• Ryan Zimmerman now has a field named after him near Nats Park. (DCist) — A new playing ground in Southwest was officially christened Ryan Zimmerman Field on Saturday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the Washington Nationals first baseman, Mayor Muriel Bowser, and other prominent local figures. Despite horrendous weather that included temperatures in the 30s and a steady onslaught of rain, snow, and graupel, scores of Little Leaguers also made it out for the mid-morning event at Randall Recreation Center at South Capitol and I Streets.
• Congrats to Herbert Hoover, newest Nationals racing president, for winning his debut race. Herbert Hoover Is The Latest Nationals’ Racing President. The president often credited with the Great Depression has reason at last to celebrate—Herbert Hoover won his debut Nationals president race in a blowout. The country’s 31st president is this season’s visiting racing president, joining the esteemed ranks of permanent racers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, crowd favorite Teddy Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft, the latest edition to the permanent squad.
• Nationals overcome another early deficit to help Max Scherzer beat the Braves. This Washington Nationals lineup, deeper now than at any point last season, is showing early signs of altered character. Call them lively, call them gritty — call it too early to call them anything — but after their 6-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday, the Nationals have trailed in each of their first five games. They have come back to win four of them. Perhaps the Nationals should avoid falling behind in the first place, but Max Scherzer struggled early Monday. Bryce Harper did not get a hit. But by the time the night was over, every Nationals starter had reached base or driven in a run. Scherzer had his first win of the season. Manager Dusty Baker saw him in the clubhouse afterward. “He’s one of the happiest guys I’ve seen in a long time today,” Baker said.

6am – E         President Obama to play TV host. (Politico) — President Barack Obama will play television host this week. Obama will act as a guest host for five editions of the Science Channel’s short-form evening news program, “Science Presents DNews,” starting Monday night. Science Channel is owned by Discovery Communications. The guest hosting stint coincides with the White House Science Fair, which takes place on April 13. The White House has taken advantage of new ways to reach out to the American people, often skipping over traditional outlets in the process – such as being interviewed by actor Zach Galifianakis on his online talk show parody show “Between Two Ferns,” or being interviewed by YouTube stars.

7am – A/B/C Donald Trump blasts Colorado GOP for ‘corrupt system’ in picking delegates. (Fox News) — Republican front-runner Donald Trump blasted Colorado’s GOP leadership late Monday, calling the way the state divvied up its delegates a “dirty system.” At a campaign rally in Albany, N.Y., the real estate mogul told the crowd “there’s been so much pressure – like in Colorado, which was a total fix. There’s so much – the people all wanted to vote. They took away their votes.” Over a series of several days, Colorado Republicans picked delegates on the congressional and statewide level for the national convention in Cleveland. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz swept the state, winning all delegates for the national convention. “They took away their vote and they gave it to these delegates,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to come back to haunt them because people aren’t going take it anymore. We’re not going to take it anymore. It’s a corrupt system. It’s a totally corrupt, rigged system.” In a tweet, Cruz said “65K Coloradans voted–they just voted against Trump. That’s 11 elections in a row we’ve won. #WhiningIsntWinning”.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — PAMELA WOOD – Covers the Maryland General Assembly and Baltimore County politics for The Baltimore Sun

• Maryland General Assembly session ends with criminal justice reforms, no income tax breaks
• Recap of what passed, what didn’t, anything important to note about the final day.
• Overview what was accomplished and what wasn’t accomplished this session.

7am – E         Conservative icon Schlafly faces revolt over Trump support; Ed Martin possibly removed. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) ST. LOUIS • In the latest tremor from the ideological earthquake wracking Republicans nationally, conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly says the board of the advocacy group she founded 44 years ago is trying to oust her for endorsing Donald Trump. “It’s disloyal, and it’s terribly shocking, and I’m completely depressed about it,” she told the conservative website WND.com prior to an afternoon telephone meeting of the board of the Eagle Forum. That meeting ended with the possible removal of the group’s president, Ed Martin, but left Schlafly in her post as chairman and CEO.  One board member vehemently denied there is any movement to remove her. But Schlafly insisted otherwise in a statement and vowed to “fight for Eagle Forum.” The board members on the other side of the divide include Schlafly’s daughter, Anne Cori. She, with at least three other board members, is on record endorsing Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is battling Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.

8am – A INTERVIEW — LT. COL TONY SHAFFER – a CIA trained former senior intelligence officer and the New York Times bestselling author of ” Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft an Special Operations on the Frontlines of Afghanistan – And The Path to Victory.”   His latest book is The Last Line.  He is a senior fellow with both the London Center for Policy Research and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies

• Colonel in North Korea’s Spy Agency Has Defected to South, Seoul Says.  A colonel belonging to North Korea’s spy agency recently defected to South Korea, the South announced on Monday. He is one of the highest-ranking North Korean military officers known to have defected to South Korea in recent decades. The Defense and Unification Ministries of South Korea would confirm only that a colonel from the North’s General Bureau of Reconnaissance had recently defected, declining to provide further details. The South Korean news agency Yonhap, which earlier reported the officer’s defection, said he arrived in South Korea last year.
• U.S. Navy officer charged with spying, possibly for China, Taiwan. A U.S. Navy flight officer with knowledge of sensitive American intelligence collection methods faces espionage charges over suspicions he passed secret information to Taiwan and possibly to China, U.S. officials said. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, who was born in Taiwan and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen, according to a Navy article profiling him in 2008.
• Director Brennan: CIA Won’t Waterboard Again — Even if Ordered by Future President.  CIA Director John Brennan told NBC News in an exclusive interview that his agency will not engage in harsh “enhanced interrogation” practices, including waterboarding, which critics call torture — even if ordered to by a future president. “I will not agree to carry out some of these tactics and techniques I’ve heard bandied about because this institution needs to endure,” Brennan said.
• Obama defends Hillary on emails

8am – B         2016 News:

• New York Mayor De Blasio Faces Criticism for Joking About ‘CP Time’ With Hillary Clinton. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is facing some criticism for joking about “CP time” while performing in a comedic sketch alongside Hillary Clinton at a charity event over the weekend. During Inner Circle’s annual event in New York City that includes musical and comedy performances by local politicians and reporters, Clinton made a surprise cameo during a scripted scene with de Blasio and Leslie Odom Jr., who plays Aaron Burr in the Broadway show “Hamilton.” Clinton joked with de Blasio about how long it took him to endorse her for president, to which the New York City mayor (and Clinton’s former Senate campaign manager) quipped back, “Sorry, Hillary. I was running on CP time.”
• Ivanka and Eric Trump won’t be voting for their father in NY. ROCHESTER, New York (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s children may be among their father’s most loyal cheerleaders. But only one of his three oldest children will be able to vote for him in next Tuesday’s Republican primary in New York. New York City voter registration records show that neither Ivanka Trump nor her brother Eric Trump registered with the Republican Party in time to cast their ballots for their father under the state’s arcane voting rules. “They had a long time to register and they were, you know, unaware of the rules, and they didn’t, they didn’t register in time, so they feel very, very guilty,” Trump said in a phone interview with “Fox and Friends” on Monday morning. “But it’s fine. I mean I understand that. I think they have to register a year in advance and they didn’t. So Eric and Ivanka I guess won’t be voting,” he said.
• Ben Carson: Hey, I’m Actually #NeverTrump, Too. Carson: ‘If it was just me’ I’d be team #NeverTrump too. Ben Carson continues to get attention for unflattering comments he’s made about Donald Trump, suggesting that if he wasn’t looking at the Supreme Court implications of supporting the GOP candidate, he would not have endorsed the Republican front-runner last month. During a radio interview on “Kelley and Kafer” highlighted by BuzzFeed, Carson pushed back on the position held by co-host Krista Kafer, who said she’d never vote for Trump, whom she described as a “liar,” a “fraud” and a “bad man.” “Remember, it’s not for you, it’s not for each of us. We are voting for our children, we are voting for our grandchildren,” Carson said, mentioning the Supreme Court vacancy and adding that the GOP candidates, including Trump, “cannot be as bad” as Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. “For me, it’s about the children and the grandchildren,” Carson repeated later in the interview. “If it were just me, I would be completely where Krista is. I would say, ‘Hey, I got this, I can deal with it,’ but for them, I can’t.”

8am – C         Decision expected in case of Va. transgender student. FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (WUSA9) — A decision is expected soon in a Virginia transgender teen’s fight to use the boys’ bathroom. A decision from the Fourth Circuit of Appeals could force schools across the country to change their policies. In Fairfax County, the issue has been a hot button topic.  “I’ve been threatened with death and rape. But I’ve also had a lot of close friends who stood by me and I’m happy about that,” said Kayden Ortiz, 19.   The senior at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County was born a girl, but knew he wanted to be boy as early as second grade. “Back in seventh, I came out to younger brother. He thought it was cool because he never liked having an older sister.  And then I came out to my parents. My mom was open about it, and my dad eventually came around,” said Ortiz.

8am – D         INTERVIEW —  LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm

• Donald Trump blasts Colorado GOP for ‘corrupt system’ in picking delegates. (Fox News) — Republican front-runner Donald Trump blasted Colorado’s GOP leadership late Monday, calling the way the state divvied up its delegates a “dirty system.” At a campaign rally in Albany, N.Y., the real estate mogul told the crowd “there’s been so much pressure – like in Colorado, which was a total fix. There’s so much – the people all wanted to vote. They took away their votes.” Over a series of several days, Colorado Republicans picked delegates on the congressional and statewide level for the national convention in Cleveland. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz swept the state, winning all delegates for the national convention. “They took away their vote and they gave it to these delegates,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to come back to haunt them because people aren’t going take it anymore. We’re not going to take it anymore. It’s a corrupt system. It’s a totally corrupt, rigged system.” In a tweet, Cruz said “65K Coloradans voted–they just voted against Trump. That’s 11 elections in a row we’ve won. #WhiningIsntWinning”.

8am – E         DC News

• Ex-lawyer starts disclosing who called ‘D.C. Madam.’ WASHINGTON — Saying he has “waited long enough,” the ex-lawyer of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey has released some of the names of companies, government agencies and organizations that had called her escort service between 2000 and 2006. In a court filing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia obtained by WTOP, Montgomery Blair Sibley included the names of 174 of the entities that had dialed Palfrey’s business, Pamela Martin & Associates. No individuals’ names were listed. Sibley has not elaborated how the information might affect the 2016 election. In regard to Monday’s filings, Sibley says “I am not releasing any individual names … yet.” The companies, agencies and organizations listed in Exhibit B of Sibley’s latest filing are not accused of any wrongdoing. There is no indication why any of those 174 Verizon Wireless account holders dialed Palfrey’s number. The list of released entities includes the following government agencies: Department of Health and Human Services, FBI, General Services Administration, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Internal Revenue Service, National Drug Intelligence Center, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Information Systems Command, Department of Commerce, Department of State, U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Forest Service. Others listed in the filing include the Archdiocese of Washington, Embassy of Japan, Bethlehem Steel, Constellation Energy/BGE, Hewlett-Packard, Johns Hopkins University, Washington Gas and several large law firms.
• Police arrest 400 at U.S. Capitol in protest of money in politics. (Reuters) Police arrested more than 400 protesters outside the U.S. Capitol on Monday from Democracy Spring, an organization seeking to remove big money from politics and combat restrictive voter identification laws. The mostly calm and orderly demonstration resulted in arrests for what the U.S. Capitol Police called “unlawful demonstration activity” such as crowding and obstruction. Organizers vowed to repeat the demonstration every day for a week. The protest was held “to demand Congress take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in our politics and ensure free and fair elections,” Democracy Spring said on its website. The group lists actor Mark Ruffalo and academic Noam Chomsky and dozens of well-known activist groups among its supporters.