Joe diGenova, Nile Gardiner, Red Maryland’s Greg Kline & VA Del. Tim Hugo joined WMAL on Monday!

Mornings on the Mall

Monday, April 25, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C  Virginia Gov. McAuliffe to Restore Rights to 200K Felons. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, will sign an order Friday restoring the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons in the state. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the unprecedented move will also allow felons living in Virginia to sit on a jury, serve in elected office, or become a notary. The order will effectively restore the civil rights of both nonviolent and violent felons who have served their time in prison and completed parole.

McAuliffe to GOP: ‘Quit complaining’ and earn ex-felons’ vote. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe dismissed on Sunday the notion that his executive order restoring the voting rights of 206,000 ex-felons represents an election-year ploy to help elect a Democrat to the White House. His message for Republicans in an interview with ABC’s “This Week”: Complain

5am – D         Preview Maryland primary

• Presidential race: Maryland is one of 5 states holding primaries on Tuesday. Hillary Clinton has a clear but narrowing lead over Bernie Sanders three weeks before the Democratic primary, according to a new Washington Post, University of Maryland poll.  The poll is also good news for Donald Trump with a slight edge among likely Republican voters, with John Kasich in second place.
• Latest on the MD U.S. Senate race: Maryland Senate primary intensifies as Tuesday vote looms. Two Democratic candidates to fill retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski’s seat have been waging an intense fight for much of the year. Donna F. Edwards and Chris Van Hollen have fiercely debated entitlements, guns and trade even though their differences are more based in style than substance.
• Democratic Senate candidate blasts own party for racial ‘foghorn’ (The Hill) — Rep. Donna Edwards, a Democrat running for a Senate seat in Maryland, blasted her own party and said racism is keeping her campaign from getting full support. “I thought the Republican Party was full of dog whistles, but the Democratic Party has a foghorn,” Edwards said in an interview with Buzzfeed on Saturday. “As a sitting member of the House, as the ranking Democrat on one of our committees in the House, as the co-chair of our steering and policy committee sitting at the leadership table with Leader Pelosi, as former chair of the bipartisan women’s caucus, a lawyer – how dare they describe me as unqualified?” dwards has only received a few endorsements from members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and a coalition of current and former presidents of local NAACP chapters have backed her primary opponent, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “I’m dumbfounded by Democrats who don’t see the value of race and gender as part of a mix of who we are on public and private lives,” she said. “It’s sad to have Democrats using terms like ‘identity politics’ — those are not our words. Those are the words of the right.”
• Republican candidates for Senate, including Del. Kathy Szeliga of Baltimore County and Baltimore attorney Chrys Kefalas, also were set to actively campaign this weekend. The Republican nominee will face an uphill run in deeply Democratic Maryland, but they have pointed to GOP Gov. Larry Hogan’s success in 2014 as a model.
• Congressional races to watch: Competitive races are underway in two U.S. House districts, the Prince George’s County-based 4th District and the Montgomery County-based 8th District. The 8th District has become the most expensive House race in the nation, with nearly $14 million spent. The 4th District includes former Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, hoping for a comeback after his loss to Hogan; a former prosecutor, Glenn Ivey; and state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk.

5am – E         Clinton News:

• Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump Lives in a ‘Bubble.’  Hillary Clinton accused fellow wealthy politician Donald Trump of living in a “bubble” during an interview that aired Sunday on Univision. The Spanish-language channel’s host asked the Democratic frontrunner if Trump scared her at all, according to the English translation. “Not at all,” Clinton said. “He’s somebody who lives in a very protected environment. I don’t think he knows that many people outside that bubble … But it is very dangerous, and I think we have to defeat him, and I need the help of your viewers and all California voters to do that.” Clinton has served as a First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State, has not driven a car since 1996 and enjoys Secret Service protection. She also earned more for one speech to Goldman Sachs than primary opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) did in an entire year.
• Hillary On Using Executive Orders to Take Guns: “Amen.” Supporter urges Clinton to take on “the sons and daughters of Charlton Heston” Hillary Clinton plans to use executive orders to chip away at the gun rights of American citizens. During an event in Philadelphia, a Hillary-supporting gun control advocate rose to urge Clinton to take on “the sons and daughters” of former NRA icon and legendary actor Charlton Heston. “We need you to be able to use your executive powers to legislate that you can’t carry guns in cars,” said the man, adding, “You can’t bring guns in buildings that are not insured to carry them.” Hillary nodded in agreement before the man asserted, “We need executive powers that say we will fight for life and will not kowtow to the sons and daughters of Charlton Heston. We can’t kowtow to the sons and daughters of Charlton Heston.” “We must have a greater voice. Thank you for coming and I will elect you,” concluded the man.  “Whoa…let the congregation say, ‘Amen,’” responded Hillary.

6am – A/B/C Cruz and Kasich coordinating to stop Trump. Cruz, Kasich unveil coordinated strategy to split upcoming states.  John Kasich will clear a path for Ted Cruz in next week’s Indiana primary, while the Texas senator will back down in two other states as the two GOP presidential rivals join forces in the hope of denying Donald Trump the nomination. The two campaigns released statements minutes apart late Sunday night, telegraphing their strategies and calling on their supporters to follow suit.   Trump doesn’t have the support of a majority of Republicans — not even close, but he currently does have almost half the delegates because he’s benefited from the existing primary system,” Kasich chief strategist John Weaver said in a statement.  “Our goal is to have an open convention in Cleveland, where we are confident a candidate capable of uniting the Party and winning in November will emerge as the nominee.” Weaver went on to note that Indiana is a winner-take-all primary, implying that the anti-Trump movement stands to gain by coalescing around one candidate. Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe echoed Weaver’s criticism of Trump and laid out his own strategy to pull out of Oregon and New Mexico. Trump holds just a single-digit lead over Cruz in most recent Indiana polling, while Kasich sits far behind. There hasn’t been recent polling in either Oregon or New Mexico.

6am – D/E     9/11 Memorial guards order kids to stop singing National Anthem. (NY Post) — Two tone-deaf security guards at the 9/11 Memorial got tough with some wide-eyed middle-school kids visiting the city for the first time from their small town in North Carolina — because they sang “The Star Spangled Banner.” “You have to stop. This is considered a public demonstration!” one guard barked at the patriotic teens, their Waynesville MS music teacher, Martha Brown, told The Post. The guards insisted the group needed a permit to sing, according to Brown. “Some of the students were very upset and confused. I told the children, ‘This is a place where you need to respect authority even if you don’t understand it,’ ” she said. The choir was wrapping up a whirlwind field trip to the Big Apple with a somber visit to the 9/11 Memorial on Friday, and had launched into their lilting version of the National Anthem when the two guards cut them off. One mom was so infuriated by the way her kid was treated that she posted footage of the truncated tribute online, where it immediately went viral and now has more than 300,000 views.

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

• State Department Office Removed Benghazi Files After Congressional Subpoena Release of records delayed over a year due to removal. (Washington Free Beacon) — State Department officials removed files from the secretary’s office related to the Benghazi attack in Libya and transferred them to another department after receiving a congressional subpoena last spring, delaying the release of the records to Congress for over a year. Attorneys for the State Department said the electronic folders, which contain hundreds of documents related to the Benghazi attack and Libya, were belatedly rediscovered at the end of last year. They said the files had been overlooked by State Department officials because the executive secretary’s office transferred them to another department and flagged them for archiving last April, shortly after receiving a subpoena from the House Select Committee on Benghazi. The delay has had consequences. The Benghazi Committee had already completed the majority of its interviews with diplomats and government officials regarding the Benghazi attack before it received the latest tranche of documents.
• Virginia Gov. McAuliffe to Restore Rights to 200K Felons. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, will sign an order Friday restoring the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons in the state. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the unprecedented move will also allow felons living in Virginia to sit on a jury, serve in elected office, or become a notary. The order will effectively restore the civil rights of both nonviolent and violent felons who have served their time in prison and completed parole.

7am – B         Sports News:

• Harper, Perez set up Heisey’s HR in 16th, Nats sweep Twins. WASHINGTON (AP) — During a career that has spanned five decades, Dusty Baker was pressed to remember a baseball game as zany at this one. “I feel like I just came out of ‘The Twilight Zone,’” the Nationals’ first-year manager said Sunday night after Washington spent nearly six hours crafting a 6-5, 16-inning victory over the Minnesota Twins. Bryce Harper tied it with a pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning, pitcher Oliver Perez put down a bunt in the 15th that kept the game going and Chris Heisey homered in the 16th to end it. At 5 hours, 56 minutes, it was the longest regular-season game in Nationals’ history. By far one of the wildest, too. “We’ve seen thousands of games. They always say, go to the ballpark and you may see something you haven’t seen before,” Baker said. “Well this, I certainly haven’t seen anything like this. This was crazy.” Harper was supposed to have a day off, but stepped up to lead off the ninth with Washington trailing 4-3 and connected for the first pinch-hit homer of his career.

• The Caps beat the Flyers. Capitals close out Flyers in 6 games with 1-0 victory. PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Early in the third period, a Flyers fan held up a sign directed at Washington that read, “You’ll choke.” Not these Capitals, and certainly not against punchless Philadelphia. Nicklas Backstrom scored, Braden Holtby had 26 saves, and the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 on Sunday in Game 6 to win the series 4-2 and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Capitals will play the Pittsburgh Penguins, setting up a marquee matchup of Alex Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby. “It’s going to be a hard series,” Ovechkin said. The Capitals scored two goals over the final three games of the series and clearly need more from Ovechkin and Co. to have a chance against the Penguins, who beat the Rangers in five games.
• CB Josh Norman signs 5-year, $75M deal with Redskins, source says. All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman has signed with the Washington Redskins, the team said Friday, to a deal for five years and $75 million, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. The contract includes $51.1 million guaranteed, a source told ESPN’s Ed Werder, the most ever for a cornerback. Norman’s average salary per season will be $15 million, eclipsing Patrick Peterson’s contract with the Arizona Cardinals ($14.01 million annually) to make Norman the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. “I’m looking forward to getting back to the playoffs here,” Norman said in an interview with the team’s “Redskins Nation” show on CSN Mid-Atlantic. “You guys went last year. I’m looking forward to going even deeper into the playoffs and then the Super Bowl. That’s our motto, that’s here, that’s the goal. That’s the ultimate goal.” Norman stated emphatically that he wanted to win “the granddaddy of them all” with Washington — and he wasn’t referring to the Rose Bowl.

7am – C         Mo’ Problems on the Metro:

• Is it RIP for WMATARU? WMATA Riders Union seems as dysfunctional as Metro right now. The WMATA Riders Union, an advocacy group for Metro riders, appears to have gone off the rails just like one of the dysfunctional trains its members have so often complained about. The leadership team at the riders union has dwindled to one. The last time its Twitter feed stirred with information on Metro operations was April Fool’s Day, and its Web site has grown ominously quiet. And no one inside is saying what’s going on with an organization whose Web site claims its membership is now more than 1,700 people. The WMATA Riders Union seemed to be answering the need for citizen engagement and advocacy at a time when Metro’s long-running financial and safety issues had made one of the nation’s busiest subways a national laughingstock. And then — almost nothing. “My sense is, it’s dead,” Chris Barnes, a founder and former leader of the Riders Union, said this week. “And I’m not happy about it in the least. This is something that, now more than ever, we need.” Barnes, who serves on Metro’s Riders’ Advisory Council, built a substantial Twitter following of Metro activists that helped lay the foundation for WMATA Riders Union. But Barnes, AKA @FixWMATA, said he’s not sure what’s going on at the group. Barnes — whose defenestration from the group’s leadership team came about last fall because he was seen as too much of a firebrand — has raised questions about the riders union’s direction and finances, especially because he had invested $2,000 in the organization. Last he heard, however, the group didn’t have the money to pay for sign-language interpreters at its inaugural meeting.
• Insulator Fire, Smoke Suspended Service on Metro’s Red Line. (NBC DC) — A portion of Metro’s Red Line has been suspended Saturday after an insulator fire created “heavy smoke” at the Friendship Heights station, D.C. Fire and EMS says. Metro said Red Line service was suspended between the Van Ness and Medical Center stations. Buses were used to transport riders between the stations. D.C. Fire and EMS said smoke was reported at the Friendship Heights station at 7:15 p.m. after an insulator was on fire at the platform. A train operator reported the problem, and a train was evacuated at the Tenleytown-AU station, Metro said. Firefighters worked to ventilate smoke between the Tenleytown-AU and Friendship Heights stations after trouble inside a mechanical room, the fire department said. Metro said it is currently inspecting the tracks. A spokesperson for Metro called it an arcing insulator incident. A woman died last January after a similar emergency caused heavy smoke at the L’Enfant Plaza station.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — NILE GARDINER – Director, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation and a former aide to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher – recapped President Obama’s trip in Europe – visiting UK and Germany.

7am – E         Prince Tributes:

• Hamilton Cast Dance to Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ (TIME) — Lin-Manuel Miranda and his cast paid tribute to the seven-time Grammy Award winner after Thursday night’s performance. Pulitzer Prize winner and 2016 TIME 100 honoree Lin-Manuel Miranda led the cast of the Hamilton musical in a spirited tribute to Prince after Thursday night’s performance, in honor of the legendary pop singer, who died Thursday at 57. The actors danced to the Purple Rain maestro’s “Let’s Go Crazy” onstage as the audience stood up and clapped along.
• ‘The Color Purple’s’ Jennifer Hudson Delivers Epic Prince Tribute. Audience Members at Thursday night’s performance of The Color Purple were given a tribute by the show’s cast. Speaking from the stage, star Jennifer Hudson said, “Today we lost a legend” and asked the crowd to join her in paying tribute to Prince, who believed “his music will live on and he will live through his music.” “I know y’all know the song,” Hudson said, as the band began to play “Purple Rain” and she began to trade verses with co-star Cynthia Erivo. Their unbridled belting of the classic, and appropriately titled song, no doubt would have made Prince proud.
• ‘Saturday Night Live’ airs Prince tribute show. NEW YORK (AP) — NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has aired a special tribute show titled “Goodnight Sweet Prince.”  “Tonight Show” host and SNL alum Jimmy Fallon hosted the episode. It featured clips of Prince performing on the comedy show over the past four decades and skits with former cast member Fred Armisen portraying the artist. The show also included a video of Prince’s impromptu performance at an after-party following the show’s 40th anniversary special last year, where Prince sang “Let’s Go Crazy” on a small stage alongside Fallon, fellow SNL vets Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short and other celebrities.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – GREG KLINE – co-founder of Red Maryland, a popular conservative blog about Republican politics in the Free State of Maryland – previewed the Maryland primary.

• Presidential race: Maryland is one of 5 states holding primaries on Tuesday.
• Latest on the MD U.S. Senate race: Maryland Senate primary intensifies as Tuesday vote looms.
• Democratic Senate candidate blasts own party for racial ‘foghorn’
• Republican candidates for Senate, including Del. Kathy Szeliga of Baltimore County and Baltimore attorney Chrys Kefalas, also were set to actively campaign this weekend. The Republican nominee will face an uphill run in deeply Democratic Maryland, but they have pointed to GOP Gov. Larry Hogan’s success in 2014 as a model.
• Thoughts on any key congressional races to watch: Competitive races are underway in two U.S. House districts, the Prince George’s County-based 4th District and the Montgomery County-based 8th District. The 8th District has become the most expensive House race in the nation, with nearly $14 million spent. The 4th District includes former Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, hoping for a comeback after his loss to Hogan; a former prosecutor, Glenn Ivey; and state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk.

8am – B         Entertainment News:

• The #BeyHive is accidentally attacking chef Rachael Ray instead of designer Rachel Roy. Beyonce Fans Mistake TV Chef Rachael Ray for Fashion Designer Rachel Roy After ‘Becky’ Lyric Goes Viral. (US Magazine) –  Beyoncé’s unforgiving fanbase misidentified TV chef Rachael Ray as fashion designer Rachel Roy, who recently hinted that she’s the woman referred to as “Becky” in Queen Bey’s new song. The 34-year-old entertainer released her new album, Lemonade, on Saturday, April 23, immediately after debuting the accompanying visual album film on HBO.  In one of the tracks, titled “Sorry,” Beyoncé slams her cheating lover for hooking up with a woman that she simply calls “Becky.” “He better call Becky with the good hair,” she scornfully croons. Roy, who was reportedly the cause of Bey’s hubby Jay Z and sister Solange Knowles’ infamous elevator fight in May 2014, took to Instagram shortly after the special premiered and hinted that she’s the woman Beyonce was referring to. Unfortunately, some members of the Beyhive swarmed to the wrong Rach. The 30 Minute Meals host’s Instagram comments quickly filled up with lemon and bee emojis, in addition to some pretty nasty messages. “Throwing your cookbook in the trash!” one user wrote, while another commented on a picture of a gourmet cheeseburger, writing, “I bet that’s exactly what you were whipping up in Jay Z’s kitchen while Beyoncé was out performing.” A few fans caught onto their mistake and begged the others to leave Ray alone.
• Twitter is overflowing with complaints about people’s inability to access tonight’s premiere of Game Of Thrones. Thousands Of HBO Now Subscribers Are Angrily Reporting Service Failures During ‘Game Of Thrones’ Premiere. In a statement, an HBO spokesperson told Decider: “There were a small number of HBO NOW subscribers receiving an error message. The problem was quickly recognized and resolved.” Tonight is the highly anticipated Season 6 premiere of Game Of Thrones, and not surprisingly, thousands upon thousands of people are attempting to watch the episode via their HBO Now and HBO Go accounts. Unfortunately for HBO and its subscribers, Twitter is overflowing with people’s complaints about their inability to access the service this evening to watch what’s up in Westeros.
• Kelly Ripa plans return to daytime talk show Tuesday. (AP) — LOS ANGELES –  Kelly Ripa is returning to her daytime talk show, ending an absence that followed word her co-host, Michael Strahan, will join “Good Morning America.” Ripa will be back Tuesday on “Live With Kelly and Michael,” she said in an email to the show’s staff that was obtained by The Associated Press.

8am – C         Solar Impulse 2 lands in California after Pacific flight. (CNN) An experimental plane flying around the world without a single drop of fuel landed in California after a two-and-a-half day flight across the Pacific. Piloted by Swiss explorer and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Mountain View just before midnight (3 a.m. ET). “It’s a new era. It’s not science fiction. It’s today,” Piccard told CNN from California after his successful voyage. “It exists and clean technologies can do the impossible.” Images of the elegant solar aircraft, which has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but only weighs about as much as an SUV, flying over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay mark a significant achievement. The team has seen the project beset with problems and setbacks during its pioneering airborne circumnavigation.

8am – D         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

• BIO: Hugo is the Majority Caucus Chairman for the House Republican Caucus. He is the Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee and also serves on the Commerce and Labor, Transportation, and Privileges and Election Committees. Delegate Hugo represents Centreville, Clifton, Fairfax, and Fairfax Station in Fairfax County as well as Catharpin, Gainesville, Haymarket, and Manassas in Prince William County.
• Virginia Gov. McAuliffe to Restore Rights to 200K Felons. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, will sign an order Friday restoring the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons in the state. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the unprecedented move will also allow felons living in Virginia to sit on a jury, serve in elected office, or become a notary. The order will effectively restore the civil rights of both nonviolent and violent felons who have served their time in prison and completed parole.

8am – E         2016 News:

• Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump Lives in a ‘Bubble.’  Hillary Clinton accused fellow wealthy politician Donald Trump of living in a “bubble” during an interview that aired Sunday on Univision. The Spanish-language channel’s host asked the Democratic frontrunner if Trump scared her at all, according to the English translation. “Not at all,” Clinton said. “He’s somebody who lives in a very protected environment. I don’t think he knows that many people outside that bubble … But it is very dangerous.”
• Cruz and Kasich coordinating to stop Trump. Cruz, Kasich unveil coordinated strategy to split upcoming states.  John Kasich will clear a path for Ted Cruz in next week’s Indiana primary, while the Texas senator will back down in two other states as the two GOP presidential rivals join forces in the hope of denying Donald Trump the nomination. The two campaigns released statements minutes apart late Sunday night, telegraphing their strategies and calling on their supporters to follow suit.
• Bernie Sanders: I’m behind because ‘poor people don’t vote.’ Bernie Sanders says he is trailing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary “because poor people don’t vote.” When asked why he consistently lost contests in states with the highest income inequality gaps, the populist Vermont senator said on “Meet The Press” Sunday that he wouldn’t trail front-runner Clinton by 275 pledged delegates – and 750 total delegates – if more low-income voters showed up to the ballot box. “I mean, that’s just a fact,” Sanders said. “That’s a sad reality of American society. And that’s what we have to transform. “We have one – as you know – one of the lowest voter turnouts of any major country on Earth. We have done a good job bringing young people in. I think we have done – had some success with lower income people. But in America today – the last election in 2014, 80 percent of poor people did not vote.”