Rep. Barbara Comstock, KT McFarland, Rep. Darrell Issa and Matt Whitaker joined WMAL on Thursday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, May 25, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Hillary Clinton: ‘You’re fired’ won’t work in the White House. Hillary Clinton didn’t waste any time in targeting Donald Trump as she began speaking at a Riverside rally Tuesday saying California will send the presumptive Republican presidential nominee a message on June 7. It’s a message she said “that Donald Trump will hear no matter where he is, that California wants a positive future.” Trump’s remarks “may have started out as entertainment but now it’s really concerning,” she said, adding: “You’re fired” won’t work in the White House.

5am – D         Metro Changes Policy On Notification Of Violent Crimes After Criticism In Rape Case. Metro will begin notifying the public about violent crimes within the transit system on the same day they occur, according to Metro Transit Police. General Manager Paul Wiedefeld ordered the change in policy as Metro was facing criticism for its delay in notifying the public about the alleged rape of a woman aboard a Red Line train in Montgomery County last month.

5am – E         McAuliffe responds to FBI inquiry: Donation was legal. WASHINGTON — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told reporters Tuesday that he has done nothing wrong and that an investigation into his 2013 gubernatorial campaign won’t hurt his longtime friend Hillary Clinton’s run for the White House. “I don’t think it will affect Hillary Clinton at all. It won’t affect me at all. If you haven’t done anything wrong, what should you be worried about,” McAuliffe said.

6am – A/B/C Illegal Immigrants Sue After Landlord Demands Documentation For Housing. (Daily Caller) — Four Latino families filed papers to sue their Virginia landlord Monday after he threatened eviction due to illegal family members living on the premises. The civil rights lawsuit filed by families living in Waples Mobile Home Park in Fairfax County, Va., claims it is discriminatory to require a social security number for residency.  The landlords at the mobile home park are requiring residents to provide either a social security card, passport or valid visa with documentation to renew their leases, reports The Washington Post. The lawyers representing the families, from the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan law firm, say the actions are targeted discrimination that disproportionately affects Latinos in the community. All the families involved in the lawsuit have lived in the park for at least two years and have at least one family member without legal residency. The landlords say they need the documentation in order to conduct proper criminal background checks. The suit filed in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia says the requirement violates the Fair Housing Act and the Virginia Fair Housing law, according to WJLA.

6am – D/E     A 7 ON YOUR SIDE Social Experiment: Drinking and pregnant? ARLINGTON, Va. (ABC7) — “Is that even legal?” asked an astonished young woman, looking at the lady, who appeared to be eight months pregnant, sitting at an outdoor table at a Clarendon restaurant with two glasses of Malbec in front of her. “Give her a water, that’s what I would do,” said her friend. “That’s unacceptable,” said another. “It wouldn’t even cross my mind to be okay.” Baby bumps and booze have long been considered taboo, and in some cases, the combination in the extreme is illegal. Eighteen states, including Virginia, equate substance abuse with child abuse.  The CDC warns against drinking while pregnant, that no amount of alcohol is advisable, not even that half glass of wine. But after a few pregnant women reported that they had been denied access to bars and concerts, the New York City Human Rights Commission issued new guidelines in May clarifying a pregnant woman’s rights, chiefly for employment non-discrimination purposes, but also reiterating the right to be served alcohol or raw fish in a restaurant. 7 ON YOUR SIDE hired a 24-year old actress, Hayley Travers, and gave her a strap-on stuffed belly, as a sort of social experiment.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA COMSTOCK (R-Virginia)

• Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA) questioned Metro’s GM yesterday about Metro’s violent crime notification policy. 
• Hours later after COMSTOCK’s QUESTION, Metro changed its policy and agreed to alert the public about violent crimes on the same day.
• Metro Transit Police ‏@MetroTransitPD: Metro GM has directed MTPD to make public notification of any violent crime the same day where doing so will not hinder investigation #wmata
• Metro Changes Policy On Notification Of Violent Crimes After Criticism In Rape Case.
• Crime In The DC Metro System Sees Dramatic Year-Over-Year Spike.

7am – B/C     North Carolina school system moves to restrict skinny jeans. WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina school system’s proposal to ban skinny jeans and other tight pants has drawn a flood of opposition from students and parents. The New Hanover County School System in the Wilmington area is considering a policy that prohibits all students from wearing leggings, skinny jeans and “any other excessively tight fitting pants” unless worn with a top or dress that “must cover the posterior in its entirety,” local media outlets report. School Board Vice Chairwoman Jeannette Nichols said the proposal was developed after some “bigger girls” were being bullied because of their tight jeans.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security @KTMCFARLAND – discussed President Obama’s Asia trip.

 7am – E        Democrat News:

• Dems discuss dropping Wasserman Schultz. (The Hill) — Democrats on Capitol Hill are discussing whether Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz should step down as Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman before the party’s national convention in July. Democrats backing likely presidential nominee Hillary Clinton worry Wasserman Schultz has become too divisive a figure to unify the party in 2016, which they say is crucial to defeating presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump in November. Wasserman Schultz has had an increasingly acrimonious relationship with the party’s other presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, and his supporters, who argue she has tilted the scales in Clinton’s favor. “There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s head on,” said one pro-Clinton Democratic senator.
• The Problem Keeping America From Being the Democracy It Should Be. The elected office holders in this country are not reflective of the people they represent. (By Donna Edwards/Cosmopolitan) — I’ve been a proud Democrat since I was 14 — I remember that I identified myself as a Democrat because I could see myself in our party. As a young girl, I could see my own potential for leadership through leaders like Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan and Bella Abzug. But, just a few weeks ago after a yearlong battle for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Maryland held by Barbara Mikulski, my 14-year-old self ran right into the glass ceiling for black women with a concussion-worthy crash.
• VA Gov. McAuliffe – There’s No Allegation Of Wrongdoing. ALEXANDRIA — (CNN) Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday he was in “shock” to find out he was under federal investigation for campaign contributions. The investigation dates to at least last year and has focused, at least in part, on whether donations to his gubernatorial campaign violated the law, U.S. Officials briefed on the probe said.

 

8am – A         INTERVIEW –CONGRESSMAN DARREL ISSA – U.S. Representative for California’s 49th congressional district, serving since 2001.

• ISSA wrote in his CNN oped: “TSA’s defenders point to budget cuts and staff layoffs to justify the agency’s poor performance, but if declining budgets are the cause of our problems, then airport security privatization just might be a perfect solution to help the TSA do more, with less.”

• ON MONDAY: TSA head of security forced out amid furor over long airport lines. The Transportation Security Administration’s head of security operations was removed from his post Monday, law enforcement sources told Fox News. The departure of Kelly Hoggan was one of a series of shakeups at the agency amid a furor over growing security delays at American airports.

8am – B         Sports News:

• Md. high school student takes Redskins cheerleader to prom. GLEN BURNIE, Md. – It was a high school prom to remember for a Maryland student and he has social media to thank for helping him land his date. Stephen Bieber, a senior student at Old Mill High School in Anne Arundel County, went to the big spring formal dance last Saturday with a Washington Redskins cheerleader after he reached out to her on Instagram. Back in March, the 17-year-old from Glen Burnie commented on a post on Christa Aiken’s Instagram page. The Redskins cheerleader runs a fitness website and has been a member of the First Ladies of Football since 2012. Beiber wrote: “@dcfitchick 100% serious, how many retweets I gotta get on Twitter for you to go to prom with me? 10,000 enough? Please” Aiken responded: “@stephenb926 lol thank you! At least 10K!!”
• Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles selected to host Super Bowls. The NFL awarded Super Bowls to Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles, three cities that made significant financial investments in new stadiums or recently upgraded an existing one.  Atlanta will host the game in 2019, followed by Miami (2020) and Los Angeles (2021), it was announced Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings.
• Golden State Warriors lose to Oklahoma City Thunder: Thunder, in Rout, Push Warriors to Brink. OKLAHOMA CITY — The Golden State Warriors came here with a well-earned reputation as cool and collected, the greatest basketball show on earth. The defending league champions and the most credentialed regular-season team in N.B.A. history, with 73 victories, the Warriors left Chesapeake Energy Arena late Tuesday night on the brink of elimination, battered in successive games by an Oklahoma City Thunder team that played like a tornado.

8am – C         Protests turn violent outside Trump rally in New Mexico. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico turned violent Tuesday night as demonstrators threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, overturned trash cans and knocked down barricades. Authorities responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center in what police later called a “riot.” During the rally, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers. The banners included the messages “Trump is Fascist” and “We’ve heard enough.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW — MATTHEW WHITAKER —  Executive Director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) and former U.S. Attorney

• Previously, Whitaker served as the US Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa.
• Statement by Matthew Whitaker, Executive Director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) and former U.S. Attorney, in response to the federal investigation of Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe with regards to campaign contributions: “Terry McAuliffe’s history of ethical lapses and stonewalling, both as a former top Hillary Clinton money man and now as Governor, are well documented.  Earlier this year, I called on Governor McAuliffe to disclose the names of mystery guests at a Washington Redskins game state funded luxury box suite party so that Virginia taxpayers, who ended up paying the over $2,400 food and drink tab, can be confident that the event was used for government purposes. This federal investigation of donations to his campaign raises more serious red flags, not only for McAuliffe himself but also for Secretary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, to which he is closely tied personally and financially.”  
• VA Gov. McAuliffe – There’s No Allegation Of Wrongdoing. ALEXANDRIA — (CNN) Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday he was in “shock” to find out he was under federal investigation for campaign contributions. The investigation dates to at least last year and has focused, at least in part, on whether donations to his gubernatorial campaign violated the law, U.S. Officials briefed on the probe said.

8am – E         VA chief: ‘I deeply regret’ wait-time comparison to Disney. WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald said Tuesday he regrets remarks he made comparing long wait times at VA health care sites to waiting in line at a Disney amusement park. “It was never my intention to suggest that I don’t take our mission of serving veterans very seriously,” McDonald said in a written statement. “If my comments Monday led any veterans to believe that I, or the dedicated workforce I am privileged to lead, don’t take that noble mission seriously, I deeply regret that. Nothing could be further from the truth.”