Trevor Matich, Michael Durso and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, November 18, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C   Time to Dump Time Zones. We will awaken Sunday to yet another disturbance in the chronosphere — our twice-yearly jolt from resetting the clocks, mechanical and biological. Thanks to daylight saving time, we get a dose of jet lag without going anywhere. Most people would be happy to dispense with this oddity of timekeeping, first imposed in Germany 100 years ago. But we can do better. We need to deep-six not just daylight saving time, but the whole jerry-rigged scheme of time zones that has ruled the world’s clocks for the last century and a half. The time-zone map is a hodgepodge — a jigsaw puzzle by Dalí. Logically you might assume there are 24, one per hour. You would be wrong. There are 39, crossing and overlapping, defying the sun, some offset by 30 minutes or even 45, and fluctuating on the whims of local satraps. Let us all — wherever and whenever — live on what the world’s timekeepers call Coordinated Universal Time, or U.T.C. (though “earth time” might be less presumptuous). When it’s noon in Greenwich, Britain, let it be 12 everywhere. No more resetting the clocks. No more wondering what time it is in Peoria or Petropavlovsk. Our biological clocks can stay with the sun, as they have from the dawn of history. Only the numerals will change, and they have always been arbitrary.

5am – D/E     Prince George’s School Protest Is Today.

6am – A/B/C Romney and Trump to discuss secretary of state position, NBC source says.  Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will meet with Donald Trump this weekend to discuss the secretary of state position, a source close to the president-elect with direct knowledge of his thinking told NBC News. In March, the former Massachusetts governor called Trump “a phony” and “a fraud” when discussing the then-candidate. Trump, who endorsed Romney in 2012, has called him a loser, adding that Romney begged for his endorsement and “would’ve dropped to his knees” for it. He has also said that he “choked like a dog” during his 2012 presidential campaign against President Barack Obama. During the primaries, Romney campaigned with Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the Buckeye State.

6am – D         Tim Ryan to challenge Pelosi for House Dem leader. Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio) is launching a challenge to Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (Calif.) long-held position as top House Democrat, he announced Thursday. In a letter to the caucus, the 43-year-old Ryan said last week’s disastrous election results — the latest in a string of bad cycles for Democrats — show the party needs a new direction that can be accomplished only with new leaders. “While having a position in Democratic Leadership has never been my life’s ambition, after this election I believe we all need to re-evaluate our roles within the Caucus, the Democratic Party, and our country,” Ryan wrote. “That is why I am announcing my run for Minority Leader of the Democratic Caucus and humbly request your support.”

6am – E         Trump Effect?

• Ford tells Trump no Lincoln SUV production going to Mexico. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Ford Motor Co Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr told him the automaker would not move a Kentucky plant to Mexico, but the firm said it informed him the decision was to keep one vehicle in U.S. production. On Thursday, Trump posted on Twitter: “I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!” “He will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky – no Mexico,” the President-elect tweeted.
• Apple mulls moving iPhone production to US, report says. (Fox News) — Could Apple start making iPhones in the United States?  According to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review, the Cupertino-based company requested that Foxconn and the other iPhone manufacturer explore moving their smartphone production stateside. “Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.,” a source told Nikkei. “Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns.” But the change wouldn’t come cheaply, according to the report. “Making iPhones in the U.S. means the cost will more than double,” Nikkei’s source said. President-elect Donald Trump has said that he wants Apple to move manufacturing to the United States, and he has also called China a “currency manipulator” and said he would impose tough trade tariffs on their exports. A Chinese publication, the Global Times, recently warned that a trade war between the two countries would, among other things, harm iPhone sales in China.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — TREVOR MATICH — Redskins elite long snapper, WMAL’s Redskins analyst and Comcast SportsNet co-host

• PREVIEW: Green Bay Packers @ Washington Redskins / Sunday, November 20, 8:30 PM on NBC / FedExField, Landover

7am – B         Trump Transition:

• Senior official: Trump has offered retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn job as national security adviser.  President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday offered retired Army Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn the position of national security adviser, a senior official told the Associated Press. Flynn, who advised Trump’s presidential campaign, had been considered a leading contender for the position, given his support of many of Trump’s most grave foreign policy proposals. Earlier this year, he defended Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslims from immigrating to the U.S. and said he was open to bringing back waterboarding as a torture method and to killing the families of accused terrorists, which constitutes a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Flynn served as the chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency but was forced out due to his controversial views on Islam and vocal opposition to the Obama administration’s policies to fight Islamic State. He claimed that “political correctness” was at fault in the U.S. efforts against terrorism. He also called Islam a “cancer” and argued that fearing Muslims is “rational.”
• Newt Gingrich says he will not be in Trump Cabinet. WASHINGTON Newt Gingrich said Thursday he will not serve in the Donald Trump administration in any official role. The former House Speaker and presidential candidate had been mentioned frequently as a potential top member of the new government, possibly as secretary of defense, state or health and human services. But he ended that speculation in an interview with McClatchy. “I will not be in the Cabinet,” Gingrich, 73, said. “I intend to be focused on strategic planning.”
• Romney and Trump to discuss secretary of state position, NBC source says.  Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will meet with Donald Trump this weekend to discuss the secretary of state position, a source close to the president-elect with direct knowledge of his thinking told NBC News.
• KellyAnne Conway plays down reports about Romney for Secretary of State. (Fox News) Conway played down speculation that Romney could be asked to join Trump’s administration, saying that “not every conversation Mr. Trump is having this week as the President-elect is going to lead to a Cabinet position [or] is going to lead to a senior strategy role. He is a man who listens and who learns, and one listens and learns from him as well, so it’s always a two-way street.”

7am – C         National Park Service announces Garth Brooks, the Lumineers & others added to lineup for Nat’l Christmas Tree lighting. WASHINGTON (AP) — Country and folk rock have been added to the musical lineup for this year’s lighting of the National Christmas Tree. The National Park Service announced Thursday that country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood and folk-rock band the Lumineers will be part of the festivities Dec. 1. They will join previously announced entertainers including James Taylor, Chance the Rapper, Kelly Clarkson and Yolanda Adams. For Taylor, it’s part of a busy trip to Washington: He’ll receive the Kennedy Center Honor three days later.

7am – D/E     Uber fights with Maryland over fingerprint background checks. WASHINGTON — A battle over background checks is beginning between Uber and the State of Maryland, and the popular ride-sharing service has threatened to leave the state if it does not get its way. Under a Maryland law passed last year, Uber and other ride-sharing companies such as Lyft must start using fingerprinting during criminal background checks for drivers. Fingerprinting is already required for taxi drivers, and state regulators say it will help weed out job applicants who lie about background information. But Uber wants to do things its own way. The company claims its background check system is just as effective and that fingerprinting would create unnecessary hurdles for people who want to be drivers. Hearings on the matter are set to begin Thursday in front of the Maryland Public Service Commission, The Baltimore Sun reports. A decision is expected by mid-December.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — MICHAEL DURSO – President and District 5 School Board Member for the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education

• Superintendent on Protests: All Students Expected to Stay in School. Superintendent Jack Smith featuredIn a video message posted online, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) superintendent Jack Smith said he expects all students to remain in school and participate in the school’s daily educational program as intended.

8am – B         Obama to anti-Trump protesters: March on. President Obama, speaking at a press conference in Germany, passed up the opportunity Thursday to tamp down the anti-Donald Trump protests back home — urging those taking part not to remain “silent.”  The president fielded a question on the protests during a joint news conference in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

8am – C         Kaine says he’s not going to run for president in 2020. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine says he’ll seek re-election in 2018 but is ruling out a presidential bid in 2020. The former Democratic vice presidential nominee said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that his place is in the Senate and his decision not to run in 2020 is final. “Period. Full stop,” Kaine said.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – BRET BAIER – ANCHOR OF SPECIAL REPORT on FOX NEWS CHANNEL – discussed the Trump transition news.

• Trump Taps Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to Be Attorney General.
•  Donald Trump offers CIA director post to Rep. Mike Pompeo – report.
• Senior official: Trump has offered retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn job as national security adviser.
• Newt Gingrich says he will not be in Trump Cabinet.
• KellyAnne Conway plays down reports about Romney for Secretary of State.

8am – E         Critter News:

• Woman Survives Maryland’s First Bear Attack in Decades. A 63-year-old Maryland woman survived an attack by a black bear by punching it, and when that didn’t work, she played dead, her husband said Thursday at the hospital where she’s recovering. “She said she punched him in the face a couple times,” Ronald Osborne said. “She’s a tough babe.” He said Karen Osborne used her cellphone to call 911 after she was attacked Wednesday night in the driveway of their daughter’s rural home near Frederick, about 45 miles west of Baltimore.
• Barrier around Harambe’s enclosure ‘wasn’t up to federal standards’ when boy jumped over in and led to gorilla’s death. (AP) — A barrier separating Cincinnati Zoo visitors from a gorilla exhibit wasn’t in compliance with standards when a 3-year-old boy slipped inside, resulting in the shooting death of an endangered gorilla named Harambe, a report has found. A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report obtained on Thursday also stated the zoo’s dangerous-animal response team properly followed procedures after visitors called 911 on May 28 to report a child in the gorilla enclosure. A team member concluded the child was in ‘life-threatening danger.’ The death of the 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla led to mourning around the globe and a storm of criticism and unending social media attention.