Mark Krikorian, Tom Fitton, USA Today’s David Meeks and Dr. Stephen Farnsworth joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

 

5am – A/B/C   DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW — MARK KRIKORIAN – Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)

• Trump looks at adjusting deportation plan.

5am – D         Hillary News:

• Emails: Huma Abedin Left Classified Material Unsecured In The Front Seat Of Her Car. Emails released on Monday show that Hillary Clinton’s top State Department aide, Huma Abedin, left classified government information that needed to be burned in the front seat of her vehicle. “Favor” is the subject of Abedin’s July 20, 2009 email to Lauren Jiloty, Clinton’s personal assistant. Judicial Watch obtained the records and hundreds more pages of Abedin emails as part of its ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the State Department. “I’m going to have ambassador ride on next drive,” wrote Abedin. “There’s a bunch of burn stuff in the pocket of my front seat.”
• New Abedin Emails Reveal Hillary Clinton State Department Gave Special Access to Top Clinton Foundation Donors. (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released 725 pages of new State Department documents, including previously unreleased email exchanges in which former Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin provided influential Clinton Foundation donors special, expedited access to the secretary of state. In many instances, the preferential treatment provided to donors was at the specific request of Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band.
• Chaffetz claims FBI gave Congress conflicting documents on Clinton email probe. House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) says he has a “couple problems” with the documents provided by the FBI from its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, including several differences between sets of documents in two separate binders. One issue, Chaffetz explained on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” is the “high level of redactions.” “Hillary Clinton is out there saying there’s not very much sensitive information in there, that she didn’t trade in sensitive classified information. It’s so sensitive and so classified that even I as the chairman of the Oversight Committee don’t have the high level of clearance to see what’s in those materials,” Chaffetz said. “I think the documents are overly classified. We’re going to call on the FBI this week to give us a version where there’s non-classified, the unclassified material and the classified material redacted so that that could be out there in the public. I think that’s the right thing to do.”

5am – E         Days before Silver Spring apt. explosion, resident calls 911 to complain of smell of gas. SILVER SPRING, Md. (ABC7) — We are learning much more about the July 25th 911 call we first told you about hours after the Flower Branch Apartments blew up and caught fire killing 7 people. The caller says the smell of gas lingered in the stairway of the building that exploded.

6am – A/B/C Ryan Lochte ditched by four major sponsors. Four major sponsors of Ryan Lochte walked away from the disgraced U.S. swimmer on Monday. Speedo, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Gentle Hair Removal and mattress maker Airweave all said they would be cutting ties with Lochte after the swimmer admitted to lying about being robbed at gunpoint while in Rio. “While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for,” Speedo said in its statement. “We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience.” Ralph Lauren said it had signed Lochte to an endorsement deal specifically for the 2016 Games and the company will not be renewing the contract. The company, which early Monday still had a photo of Lochte wearing an Olympic medal on its Twitter home page, has since taken that image down.

6am – D         INTERVIEW — TOM FITTON – President, Judicial Watch

• New Abedin Emails Reveal Hillary Clinton State Department Gave Special Access to Top Clinton Foundation Donors. Crown Prince of Bahrain Forced to Go Through Foundation to See Clinton, after Pledging $32 Million to Clinton Global Initiative. (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released 725 pages of new State Department documents, including previously unreleased email exchanges in which former Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin provided influential Clinton Foundation donors special, expedited access to the secretary of state. In many instances, the preferential treatment provided to donors was at the specific request of Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band.

6am – E         State Department issues updated travel warning for Iran. (Fox News) — The State Department issued an updated travel warning on Monday for Americans, especially Iranian-Americans, on the risks of travel to Iran, even after the U.S. signed a nuclear deal and made a $400 million cash payment to the country that was contingent on the release of four American prisoners. The travel warning replaces what was in effect since March 14, which reiterates the risk of arrest and detention of U.S. citizens, especially those with dual Iranian-American citizenship. Iran does not recognize dual nationalities. The warning says that Iranian authorities continue to “detain and imprison U.S. citizens, particularly Iranian-Americans, including students, journalists, business travelers, and academics, on charges including espionage and posing a threat to national security.”

7am – A/B/C   Report: Fox’s Sean Hannity is ‘Informally’ Advising the Trump Campaign. Sean Hannity has undoubtedly been one of the most pro-Donald Trump figures in cable news, but a new report is suggesting that the connection between the two goes beyond media booster and presidential candidate. A report from The New York Times says that the Fox News host has been an informal adviser to the Trump campaign for months now by providing strategy and messaging advice to the mogul and his various staffers.  Hannity didn’t seem to deny this to Times reporter Jim Gutenberg, but he did say that he’s not looking for a formal position in the event that Trump takes the White House.

7am –D          Entertainment News:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger replaces Donald Trump in first Celebrity Apprentice teaser. Celebrity Apprentice is getting another celebrity-turned-politician to sit in Donald Trump’s chair: The first teaser for the upcoming season of the business competition show reveals Arnold Schwarzenegger’s debut as host of what is now The New Celebrity Apprentice. “Let’s get down to business,” Schwarzenegger states authoritatively in the promo, which plays on his Terminator past as machinery pieces his body together. After longtime Apprentice host Donald Trump announced his campaign for presidency last year, NBC confirmed that he would never return to the series. Schwarzenegger has been active in politics for years, even becoming the governor of California in 2003.
• Barbra Streisand Called Tim Cook Because Siri Mispronounces Her Name. WASHINGTON — (CNN) Barbra Streisand is upset about her iPhone mispronouncing her name. So she decided to call Apple’s CEO. The star recently told NPR’s Scott Simon that Siri has been saying “Streizand,” instead of “Streisand.” “She pronounces my name wrong,” Streisand said.”Streisand with a soft S, like sand on the beach. I’ve been saying this for my whole career.” So what’s a diva to do? Naturally she should reach out to the head of Apple, Tim Cook, which Streisand did. She said he “delightfully agreed to have Siri change the pronunciation of my name, finally, with the next update on September 30th.” “So let’s see if that happens because I will be thrilled,” Streisand said laughing.
• Aretha Franklin Cancels Upcoming Concerts on ‘Doctors’ Orders.’ Soul legend calls off five shows, including her appearance at Radio City Music Hall’s “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90” concert. Aretha Franklin has canceled a handful of upcoming concerts following a recommendation by her doctors to rest up.  “Due to doctors’ orders I will have to cancel a few concerts for the next month or so,” the soul legend said in a statement Monday. At least five shows have been canceled, including an August 26th performance at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia, the Associated Press reports. A pair of Radio City Music Hall shows in New York – an appearance at the Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 show on September 15th and Franklin’s solo concert on September 23rd – have also been canceled along with October gigs in Detroit and St. Louis.
• Gabby Douglas, Laura Marano join Miss America pageant as judges. Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas and musician and actress Laura Marano have been added as celebrity judges for the 2017 Miss America competition.. Pageant officials made the announcement Monday. The two will join NBA team owner and businessman Mark Cuban, actress Sara Foster, singer-songwriter Cole Swindell and former Miss America Sharlene Wells Hawkes. Douglas was the first all-around Olympic gold medalist in U.S. history to earn a spot on a second Olympic team. She also is one of two American gymnasts to win gold medals in back-to-back Olympics.

7am – E         West Nile Virus Found in Mosquito Pools in Montgomery, Prince George’s Counties. Maryland state and Montgomery County agencies expanded their spraying for mosquitos over health concerns about West Nile and Zika viruses. Truck-based spraying occurred Monday in the Wheaton area of Kensington, the Olde Town area of Gaithersburg and the Sandy Spring area, all in Montgomery County, around 7:30 p.m. As a follow up, state and local inspectors will go door-to-door in the area to inspect properties for mosquito breeding sites and will conduct backyard spraying, as needed, to further reduce adult mosquito populations. Maryland health officials reported the first confirmed case of West Nile virus this year in the state. The health department said an adult who lives in western Maryland has survived the infection. The department said the virus has been detected in mosquito pools collected in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. A pool is a group of mosquitoes collected at one of several trap sites around the state.

8am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – DAVID MEEKS – USA Today Sports Managing Editor

• USA TODAY Sports investigation raises questions about Rio cops, Lochte incident. (USA Today) — RIO DE JANEIRO – Seven days after an incident that will in part define the Rio Olympics, details are becoming clearer about what happened during a gas station encounter between four U.S. swimmers and security guards, and not everyone has concluded Ryan Lochte and his teammates are entirely in the wrong or that the account offered by Rio authorities is entirely accurate. Lochte has admitted he exaggerated his initial description of how the four men were stopped in their taxi and robbed by men who flashed badges, as well as his sensational allegation of a gun being held to his forehead. But a narrative of the night’s events – constructed by USA TODAY Sports from witness statements, official investigations, surveillance videos and media reports – supports Lochte’s later account in which he said he thought the swimmers were being robbed when they were approached at a gas station by armed men who flashed badges, pointed guns at them and demanded money.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — DR. STEPHEN FARNSWORTH – Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA

@drsfarnsworth

• Donald Trump battles to retake Virginia, once-reliably red state gone blue. (Washington Times) — FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Donald Trump hasn’t given up the fight to win back Virginia for the Republican Party in November, but he is battling strong political headwinds that have the once solidly red state poised to vote Democrat for the third consecutive presidential election. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton holds one of her biggest advantages among battleground states in Virginia, where she leads Mr. Trump by as much as 12 percentage points in polls. She has made the Old Dominion an anchor for her electoral strategy, which she underscored by tapping the state’s former governor, Sen. Tim Kaine, as her running mate. Mr. Trump pushed back Saturday at a rally in this bedroom community on the southern edge of Northern Virginia, where his supporters reeled at the thought of their state remaining blue this year.
• Clinton campaign not planning to air ads in Virginia. Los Angeles (CNN) – Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign will make their final ad reservations for the fall this week, according to an aide, reserving — in total — $80 millions in ads through Election Day in eight states. Two states that the Clinton campaign is not planning to air local ads in through September and October: Virginia and Colorado. In total, Clinton will spend $3 million in ads for the remainder of August and $77 million in September and October, according to an aide. The states part of Clinton’s ad campaign: Florida, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, North Carolina and the Omaha market in Nebraska.
• Terry McAuliffe’s Second Try at Restoring Felon Voting Rights. Weeks after the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the governor’s order giving 200,000 ex-offenders back the franchise was unconstitutional, he’s trying a different method. Virginia Gov. McAuliffe restores voting rights to 13,000 felons, after being blocked by the state Supreme Court.  Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe today restored voting rights to 13,000 felons, circumventing a court ruling and defying objections to his earlier attempts from Republican legislators.  The move comes after Republicans and the Supreme Court of Virginia stopped his earlier wide-ranging clemency effort, an executive order issued in April that would have restored voting rights to about 200,000 felons who had served their sentences. Republicans were upset that the order included both violent and nonviolent offenders — en masse instead of case by case — and they accused the governor of trying to add voters to the registration rolls before November’s presidential election in a bid to help Hillary Clinton, a longtime friend and political ally.

8am – E         HILLARY NEWS