Robert Thomson, Sean Trende and Jake Tapper joined WMAL on Thursday!
Mornings on the Mall
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor
Executive Producer: Heather Hunter
5am – A/B Shocking new report reveals AT&T has been spying on Americans with secret Project Hemisphere. On Tuesday, the Daily Beast released a report that details extensive surveillance administered by AT&T. The program, called Project Hemisphere is reportedly able to search through trillions of phone call records and can also analyze users’ metadata. AT&T used the program to help the US government keep tabs on American citizens and the news comes just days after the company announced that it was merging with Time Warner. Project Hemisphere was first detailed in 2013 by the New York Times as a “partnership” between the communication company and the government. Its purpose was allegedly a tool in the war on drugs — to keep tabs on narcotics, Salon reports. However, the Daily Beast’s report finds the program’s use went beyond narcotics, and was also used for homicide investigations and to track Medicaid fraud. A technology policy analyst with the ACLU, Christopher Soghoian, says the company is being misleading with the scope of their program. He tells the Daily Beast, “They say they only cooperate with law enforcement as required, and frankly, that’s offensive when they are mining the data of millions of innocent people, and really built a business and services around the needs of law enforcement.”
5am – C The WMAL Diner Tour is back! WMAL’s bringing Mornings on the Mall with Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor to your neighborhood… just in time for Election Day. Larry and Brian are taking the pulse of area voters (that means you!) in Maryland and Virginia with a series of live broadcasts leading up to the election. Stop by to join the conversation live with Mornings on the Mall and WMAL! // DINER LOCATIONS: Friday, October 28th / Silver Diner Rockville, 12276 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 / In Federal Plaza Shopping Center / 5am to 9am
5am – D How do you ‘rebrand’ D.C. when the public thinks it’s ‘corrupt’ and ‘arrogant’? If you meet a stranger on a plane and say you’re from the Washington area, do you get a grimace in response? A disparaging comment about government gridlock, waste or corruption? A group of civic leaders unveiled an effort Wednesday to change that perception. It outlined steps to “rebrand” the Washington region in the hope of making it easier to attract business and talent and to promote what they called “regional swagger.” The Branding Greater Washington Task Force hasn’t settled on a slogan, jingle or logo for the area. But Cary Hatch, its project manager, told an audience of about 100 regional leaders that the message should emphasize the region’s well-educated, idealistic workforce; sizable private sector; and cultural richness. Hatch said a survey found that when the public was asked what words it associated with people from Washington, the three top answers were “corrupt,” “educated” and “arrogant.”
5am – E DC Metro News:
- Metro’s Safetrack Surge #10: Metro to shut down parts of Red Line for 25 days. Metro’s Safetrack Surge #10 will start on Saturday, Oct. 29 and last until Tuesday, Nov. 22. During that time Red Line trains will not be operating between Fort Totten and NoMa-Gallaudet. As a result, the Brookland-CUA and Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood stations will be temporarily shut down.
- Metro’s general manager says fare increases possible. Fare increases were among the possibilities Wiedefeld mentioned as the agency prepares to release its fiscal 2018 budget in the coming weeks.
- Metro Operator Refused to Operate Train, Said His Shift Was Over, Officials Say. Washington Metro officials are taking action against a train operator who officials say refused to move his train because he claimed his shift had ended. The incident happened at about 8 p.m. Sunday at the Fort Totten station in Northeast D.C.
- WMAL: Metro workers say they’re tired of being overlooked by management. Today they’ll take that message to the board during its meeting. Union members say WMATA spends millions to hire private contractors to tell them what’s wrong with the system, but the contractors don’t know because they don’t know the system. They also say management orders the wrong equipment without ever asking the workers what is needed. Then time is wasted waiting for the right equipment to come in. Union spokesman says WMATA has to make the workforce a part of implementing changes, otherwise we’ll continue to have a bad system. Wiedefeld says there’s been a disconnect between front line employees and management. He’s been working on it, but it isn’t there yet.
6am – A/B/C When Halloween falls on a Monday, do people trick-or-treat over the weekend, or on Monday night?
6am – D INTERVIEW — ROBERT THOMSON aka Washington Post’s DR. GRIDLOCK
- Metro’s Safetrack Surge #10: Metro to shut down parts of Red Line for 25 days.
- Metro’s general manager says fare increases possible.
- Metro Operator Refused to Operate Train, Said His Shift Was Over, Officials Say.
- WMAL: Metro workers say they’re tired of being overlooked by management.
6am – E Entertainment:
- New ‘Sherlock’ season will arrive earlier than expected. “Sherlock” actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will chase down new mysteries beginning on January 1. Fans will finally see what dangerous adventures Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson get into in the new season of “Sherlock,” starting on January 1 on PBS and BBC One. On Wednesday, the official “Sherlock” Twitter account released an image of the detective’s beloved violin with the official start date of the new season. Previously, we only knew it was coming next year, and it’s doubtful anyone thought that meant the very first day. “Sherlock” season 4 kicks off with an episode titled “The Six Thatchers.” The second episode is called “The Lying Detective.”
- Report: Megyn Kelly Seeks over $20 Million a Year from Fox News. Megyn Kelly is shooting to earn over $20 million every year from Fox News, according to a report on her contract negotiations from the Wall Street Journal (both FNC and WSJ are owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp). From the Wall Street Journal: Fox News star Megyn Kelly has changed agents and publicity teams since last year. Now the question is if she will change TV networks. Host of “The Kelly File,” one of the cable-news channel’s most popular shows, Ms. Kelly is in active talks over her contract, which expires next July. Her profile has been rising during the presidential election cycle, in part thanks to a dust-up with Republican candidate Donald Trump. Keeping Ms. Kelly is a priority for senior management, including Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of Fox News and co-executive chairman of its parent company, 21st Century Fox. For the final year of her current deal, Ms. Kelly is set to receive about $15 million, people familiar with the matter said. The people said she is seeking an average annual salary north of $20 million for her next contract—which would put her on par with Fox host Bill O’Reilly.
7am – A INTERVIEW — SEAN TRENDE – Senior Elections Analyst at Real Clear Politics
- Donald Trump holds a slim 2-point edge in a new Florida poll from Bloomberg Politics. Donald Trump has a 2 percentage point edge over Hillary Clinton in Florida, according to a new poll released Wednesday, as both presidentialcampaigns blanket the critical swing state in a full sprint to Election Day. A new Bloomberg Politics poll finds Trump ahead of Clinton, 45% to 43% — well within the poll’s 3.2 percentage point margin of error — in a four-way race among likely voters.
- Polls: Clinton Holds 9 Point Lead in New Hampshire; Tied in Nevada. Democrat Hillary Clinton has jumped out to a nine-point lead in the battleground state of New Hampshire, while she’s tied with Republican Donald Trump in Nevada, according to two new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls. In New Hampshire, Clinton gets the support of 45 percent of likely voters, and Trump gets 36 percent; Libertarian Gary Johnson is at 10 percent and the Green Party’s Jill Stein is at 4 percent. Clinton’s lead over Trump in last month’s poll of the Granite State was just two points among likely voters, 39 percent to 37 percent, while Johnson was at 15 percent and Stein at 3 percent. In a two-way race, Clinton’s advantage over Trump is eight points, 47 percent to 39 percent – up from her one-point lead last month, 42 percent to 41 percent. In Nevada, meanwhile, Clinton and Trump are tied among likely voters, 43 percent to 43 percent, and Johnson gets 10 percent. (Stein isn’t on the ballot in the Silver State.)
7am – B/C Sheryl Crow leads push to shorten presidential campaign season. Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow thinks this year’s presidential campaign has lasted too long, and she’s trying to do something about it. A change.org petition started by the “Soak Up The Sun” singer calls on the Democratic and Republican national committees to shorten the primary calendar to “drastically reduce the amount of time we are exposed to presidential campaigns.” “Two years of a campaign does not educate anyone any more than it would have if it had been six months,” Crow told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on “The Kelly File” Wednesday night. “[This presidential race has] not been any more enlightening, it’s just benefited the media outlets and political consultants who work on elections and Super PACs and lobbyists and we have to get away from that.” The petition does not lay out a specific plan for a shortened election season, but notes that “countries across the globe have limited campaign seasons to as short as 6 weeks” and adds, “with an organized system, a successful, informative, professional campaign could be run.”
7am – D/E Advocates want women to be able to go topless in Ocean City. OCEAN CITY, Md. – An Eastern Shore Woman is asking the Worcester County State’s Attorney to look at laws surrounding toplessness at OCEAN City’s beach. Chelsea Covington lives on the Eastern Shore and is a national advocate for “topfreedom.” She says her mission is to normalize female bare-chestedness. “At its core, the topfreedom movement is about equality under the law,” she told WBOC. According to Richard Meehan, the mayor of OCEAN City, the city was made aware of the request in August. Meehan says Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby says the law was unclear, and so he asked for an opinion from the Attorney General. The Attorney General’s office says they do not confirm or deny requests for opinions or advice. Meehan told WBOC, “We are waiting for that opinion. We understand Ms Covington’s desire to be treated fairly under the Equal Protection Law but at the same time we hope to be able to protect the rights of the thousands of families that visit our beach every year. ”
8am – A Kathy Szeliga, Chris Van Hollen clash in only televised Senate debate. (Baltimore Sun) – Green Party candidate Margaret Flowers takes Senate debate stage and demands to be included. Republican Kathy Szeliga and Democrat Chris Van Hollen clashed over the economy, Obamacare and the polarizing presidential race on Wednesday during what is likely to be the only televised debate in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. In a testy debate — Szeliga accused Van Hollen of “mansplaining” and Van Hollen repeatedly characterized Szeliga’s positions as out of step with the state — the rivals offered broadly contrasting visions for how to move the country forward. Before the debate got underway, Green Party candidate Margaret Flowers climbed onto the stage at the University of Baltimore and demanded to be included. Flowers, who did not meet the 15 percent polling threshold set by organizers to participate in the debate, has pressed to be a part of earlier forums and has staged similar interruptions. University of Baltimore police officers took her by the arm and escorted her out.
8am – B Donald Trump Takes Time Off to Promote His Hotel. (AP) – Donald Trump’s campaign is defending his eyebrow-raising decision to spend precious campaign time promoting his business in the final days of the long presidential campaign as his poll numbers sink. Kellyanne Conway told NBC’s “Today” show that the Republican presidential nominee is justified in showing off his “under-budget, ahead-of-schedule” Trump International Hotel on Wednesday. She called it a demonstration of Trump’s can-do spirit, calling it a “stunning piece of architecture.” She noted that Trump had made a dozen campaign stops in Florida this week and says he shouldn’t be criticized for attending the hotel opening. Polls show Trump trailing Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in key battleground states. Conway said that Trump has “the most active campaign schedule of the two candidates by far.”
8am – C Obamacare Architect Jonathan Gruber: “Obamacare Is Not Imploding,” “Working As Designed” MIT professor Jonathan Gruber, a well-known architect of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, tells CNN that the law known as ‘Obamacare’ is working exactly as intended.
8am – D INTERVIEW — JAKE TAPPER – Anchor of THE LEAD and STATE OF THE UNION on CNN — thoughts on polls tightening.
8am – E The WMAL Diner Tour is back! WMAL’s bringing Mornings on the Mall with Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor to your neighborhood… just in time for Election Day. Larry and Brian are taking the pulse of area voters (that means you!) in Maryland and Virginia with a series of live broadcasts leading up to the election. Stop by to join the conversation live with Mornings on the Mall and WMAL! // DINER LOCATIONS: Friday, October 28th / Silver Diner Rockville, 12276 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 / In Federal Plaza Shopping Center / 5am to 9am
