Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW PETER ROSENSTEIN – discussed how he opposes candidates who raise money over candidates who are self-financed.

5am – D Salma Hayek: Hillary Clinton Is the Only One Who Can Take On ISIS. (Daily Beast) — The acclaimed actress and star of ‘Tale of Tales’ opened up to The Daily Beast about her surreal new film, her problems with Trump, and why Hillary Clinton is her choice for POTUS. “These are not times to be messing around. I live in Europe and I tell you, it’s very, very dangerous. The only person that is truly respected by all the other countries is her. When they ask all of these people, ‘How would you deal with ISIS,’ I listen to them respond, and I tremble—except for when she talks.”

5am – E Merger done, Pepco seeks 10 percent rate increase from Maryland customers. (Washington Post) — Less than a month after its $6.8 billion merger with Exelon went through, Pepco is asking the Maryland Public Service Commission for a 10 percent across-the-board rate increase for most of its 560,000 customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Under the 200-page proposal, which was filed Tuesday, the typical Pepco residential customer in Maryland would see their power bill increase by $15.80 a month, according to Pepco. The average monthly bill is now $152. If the request is granted as proposed, it would bring an additional $127 million to Pepco. The rate request covers commercial and residential customers. “This has absolutely nothing to do with the merger,” said Donna Cooper, president of Pepco, which is the electricity utility for the District and much of the Maryland suburbs. “This has to do with prior investments in our system.”

6am – A/B/C D.C. poised to change license plate slogan in push to become 51st state. (Washington Post/Aaron C. Davis) — Stamping “Taxation Without Representation” onto D.C. license plates was supposed to be an in-your-face protest of District residents’ lack of voting rights. The sight of it was supposed to embarrass members of Congress, who spend billions in city residents’ tax dollars each year without their say. And it was supposed to increase awareness of District residents’ plight with visitors as being a message at odds with their own proud state slogans, like Connecticut’s “The Constitution State,” or Delaware’s “The First State.” But after 16 years of having the provocative slogan adorn license plates in the nation’s capital — and even that of the presidential limousine — a large group of D.C. lawmakers on Tuesday said it’s proven to be ineffective and is in need of an update. Taxation without representation, they said, was never supposed to be viewed as a permanent fact of life, like Arizona’s “Grand Canyon State.” Rather, it was supposed to motivate change, perhaps more like North Dakota’s “Discover the Spirit.” “We need a call to action, not a status quo,” said D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6). His solution? A verb: “End Taxation Without Representation,” said Allen, introducing a bill Tuesday to make the new slogan law.

6am – D New York Primary:

• New York primary: Trump, Clinton win big in home state. NEW YORK — Donald Trump is the projected winner of the New York Republican primary and Hillary Clinton is the projected winner of the Democratic primary, according to exit polls and early returns. The Associated Press called the race for the party front-runners after polls closed at 9 p.m. ET, with Trump’s projected win called almost immediately, and Clinton’s at 9:45 p.m. The victories help Trump and Clinton solidify their leads at a time when both are beginning to talk more about the general election.
• Sanders campaign, New York officials cry foul after New York voters report issues. New York City (CNN) Bernie Sanders’ campaign on Tuesday called reports of voting irregularities in New York state “a disgrace” as local officials rushed to condemn the city Board of Elections for stripping more than 125,000 Democratic voters from the rolls. “It is absurd that in Brooklyn, New York — where I was born, actually — tens of thousands of people as I understand it, have been purged from the voting rolls,” Sanders said during an evening campaign rally at Penn State University. In an email to CNN, Sanders spokesman Karthik Ganapathy called the state’s handling of the primary a “shameful demonstration.”

6am – E Susan Sarandon: I’ve faced ‘shaming’ for supporting Sanders. Actress Susan Sarandon says she has faced “shaming” for supporting Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton. “There have been so many statements and so much shaming,” she told ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday. “If you’re a woman, everyone dumps on you like, ‘How can you be a feminist?’ So you don’t want to have that conversation.” Sarandon said that even though she supports Sanders over Clinton, she is not opposed to having a female president.

Australian deputy PM mocks Johnny Depp’s dog smuggling apology video. (CNN) Australia’s deputy prime minister — who once threatened to euthanize dogs belonging to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard — has mocked the actors’ videotaped apology for failing to declare the Yorkshire terriers when entering the country last year. Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce told Australian public broadcaster ABC that Depp “looked like he was auditioning for the Godfather” in the somber apology video, but said he did not “think he’ll get an Academy Award for his performance.” He doubled down on his criticism in an interview with CNN affiliate Channel 7’s “Sunrise” program, advising the Academy Award-nominated actor to “do it again” with “a little gusto.” The apology video by the Hollywood couple was played to a Queensland court on Monday as Heard appeared over the incident.

7am – A/B/C Immigrants Responsible for Gang Violence Spike in Frederick County, Sheriff Says on Capitol Hill. Gang members are recruiting in schools in Frederick County, Maryland, the sheriff said at a congressional hearing Tuesday. News4’s Chris Gordon reports. People who immigrated to the United States illegally are responsible for an increase in gang violence in Frederick County, Maryland, the county’s sheriff said Tuesday at a congressional hearing on immigration reform. Sheriff Charles Jenkins said before the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security that immigrants in the U.S. illegally are committing crimes in the county and recruiting in local schools. “Some of the problems that have started in the communities with the gang presence is now spreading into our high schools — some of it into our middle schools. [At] one of the local high schools, routinely [there are] fights between rival gangs,” he said, referring to Frederick High School. Jenkins said more than 75 gang members are active in Frederick County. The sheriff said he believes the 18th Street Gang and MS-13 are recruiting in schools.

MS-13 gang member turned FBI informant describes life in the violent street gang. (Washington Post) — Christian Lemus Cerna, an MS-13 gang member, allegedly set out into a wooded park in Fairfax County in May 2014 to find a pair of graves. With him was a local MS-13 leader, known as Junior, who wanted to spook some new recruits by showing them where the bodies of two wayward members were buried. The previous October, Cerna’s clique had allegedly lured one member into the park, stabbed him to death, hacked his body up and buried him. Several months later, they did the same to another member who broke gang rules, according to prosecutors. The Mara Salvatrucha gang, the transnational gang known more colloquially as MS-13, is involved in criminal activities in most parts of Latin America, as well as the United States. The gang originated in Los Angeles and spread from there, and now has a large presence in Fairfax and Prince George’s counties. In more than 15 hours of testimony last week, Junior described how he secretly recorded hundreds of phone conversations and in-person meetings with the defendants, during which prosecutors say gang members admitted their roles in the alleged crimes.

7am – D INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News Channel National Security Analyst

• Barack Obama and US defence chief arrive in Saudi Arabia. (BBC) – President Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman and other leaders from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Relations have become strained over the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS) and the nuclear deal with Iran. US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter is on the trip with the president.
• Obama: ‘If we let Americans sue Saudis for 9/11, foreigners will begin suing US non-stop.’ President Barack Obama has said the classified pages of the 9/11 Commission report that do not “compromise major national security interests” may “hopefully” be soon released, but argued against any potential legal action against Saudi citizens. Obama has said that he doesn’t support the bill, due to the possibility of foreign citizens – presumably victims of US wars and drone strikes – suing the government. “If we open up the possibility that individuals in the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries,” the commander-in-chief said. The Saudis have reportedly threatened to sell its $750 billion in US assets if Congress passes the law.
• Obama to Travel to the UK on Friday: Obama is scheduled to fly to the UK from Saudi Arabia. On Friday, April 22nd, the President will have a lunch with Queen Elizabeth. Following the lunch with the Queen, the President will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron. “We work very closely with the United Kingdom on a host of issues around the world to include the counter-ISIL campaign, counterterrorism efforts, our efforts together in Afghanistan, our efforts, again, to re ..

7am – E INTERVIEW — DC Council Chairman PHIL MENDELSON

• DC Council approves permanent ban on marijuana clubs. WASHINGTON (AP) _ District of Columbia lawmakers have voted to enact a permanent ban on smoking marijuana in private clubs. Possession of pot for personal use has been legal in the District since early last year. But Congress blocked the city from any further liberalization of its marijuana laws, and Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser moved quickly to clarify that pot clubs wouldn’t be allowed. However, some members of the D.C. Council argued that there was still room for allowing smoking in designated places that charge a membership fee. The council created a task force to study the issue. But Council Chairman Phil Mendelson says the ban needed to move forward regardless because the city has no power to regulate pot clubs. It was approved Tuesday by a 7-6 vote.

8am – A/B/C D.C. poised to change license plate slogan in push to become 51st state. (Washington Post/Aaron C. Davis) — Stamping “Taxation Without Representation” onto D.C. license plates was supposed to be an in-your-face protest of District residents’ lack of voting rights. The sight of it was supposed to embarrass members of Congress, who spend billions in city residents’ tax dollars each year without their say.

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

>> New York primary: Trump, Clinton win big in home state

>> Sanders campaign, New York officials cry foul after New York voters report issues

8am – E A Virginia court just ruled in favor of a student on transgender bathroom access. Court overturns Virginia school’s transgender bathroom rule. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia high school discriminated against a transgender teen by forbidding him from using the boys’ restroom, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in a case that could have implications for a North Carolina law that critics say discriminates against LGBT people. The case of Gavin Grimm has been especially closely watched since North Carolina enacted a law last month that bans transgender people from using public restrooms that correspond to their gender identity. That law also bans cities from passing anti-discrimination ordinances, a response to an ordinance recently passed in Charlotte. In the Virginia case, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — which also covers North Carolina — ruled 2-1 to overturn the Gloucester County School Board’s policy.