CEI’s Marlo Lewis, Climate Depot’s Marc Morano, Detroit News’ Chad Livengood, Mark Krikorian and Jake Tapper joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C   INTERVIEW — MARLO LEWIS – Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute

• Donald Trump Picks Scott Pruitt, Ally of Fossil Fuel Industry, to Lead E.P.A.

5am – D         Girls vs Boys In School:

• Are Boys Really Better At Math Than Girls? Male Students Outperform In Science Tests. It’s an old saying that anything boys can do girls can do better, but that may not actually be true when it comes to math and science. Results released this week from the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment showed 15-year-old male students still outperformed girls in the two subjects. The annual Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) released in Education World journal Tuesday further examined the educational differences in male and female students and found that boys scored 30 points higher than girls in math and outscored girls by 46 points in science at the 12th-grade level.  The data, comprised of international tests and surveys conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, showed the gap to be closing in at the 8th-grade level, where there was no difference in scores between boys and girls in math and only a five-point difference between boys and girls in science.
• A new study shows how Star Trek jokes and geek culture make women feel unwelcome in computer science. Women can’t succeed in a culture that makes them feel unwelcome.  The same dynamic persists on a broad scale across the United States. Although women have made great strides in STEM fields like biology, chemistry and math, a large gender gap persists in computer science, as well as engineering and physics. In fact, just 18% of undergraduate degrees in the subject go to women today, down from 29% back when I was in college. This geeky image is at odds with the way that many girls see themselves. Work from our lab shows that when high school girls see Star Trek posters and video games in a computer science classroom, they are less interested than boys in taking the course. When the classroom is devoid of décor, girls still opt out. It is only when an alternate image of computer science is presented by replacing geeky objects with art and nature posters that girls become as interested as boys.

5am – E         Recount Update:

• Federal judge halts recount, sealing Trump’s Michigan win. Recount ends in Michigan after 3 days; ongoing in Wisconsin. DETROIT — Michigan’s recount of presidential votes is over after a judge lifted an order that forced a statewide review of millions of ballots. The recount lasted three days in more than 20 of the state’s 83 counties. Some counties hadn’t planned to start until later. Federal Judge Mark Goldsmith said Wednesday he must follow a decision by the Michigan appeals court, which found that Green Party candidate Jill Stein couldn’t seek a recount. She got 1 percent of the state vote and presented no evidence of fraud. Republican Donald Trump narrowly won. The Michigan elections board stopped the recount because of Goldsmith’s new ruling and plans to meet again Thursday. A recount is ongoing in Wisconsin, and Stein is seeking one in Pennsylvania. Trump won those states, too.
• WISCONSIN: The recount is more than 70 percent complete in Wisconsin, and Clinton has gained just 82 votes on Trump, who won the state by more than 22,000 votes. The Wisconsin Elections Commission reported Wednesday that 34 of 72 counties had completed their work and that the others are on track to finish by next week’s deadline. More than 2.1 million votes out of the nearly 3 million cast have been recounted.
• PENNSYLVANIA: U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond in Philadelphia on Tuesday scheduled a hearing Friday on the request for a recount. The Republican Party and Trump warned that the case threatens Pennsylvania’s ability to certify its election before the Dec. 13 federal deadline. Stein’s team hasn’t produced evidence of hacking, but calls Pennsylvania’s election system “a national disgrace.” Also Tuesday, Pennsylvania election officials updated the state’s vote count to show that Trump’s lead over Clinton had shrunk to about 44,000 out of more than 6 million votes cast. That is still shy of Pennsylvania’s 0.5 percent trigger for an automatic statewide recount. A state spokeswoman said 15 provisional ballots remained uncounted.

6am – A/B/C FAKE TREES vs REAL TREES: Don’t Shame The Unsung Heroism Of My Fake Christmas Tree. (Federalist / By Heather Wilhelm) — As a dedicated fake Christmas tree aficionado, this blatant bias and injustice breaks my heart. Also, it makes no sense! If you’re a beaver, and it’s your job to chop down real trees with your teeth—or patiently nibble until the trunk is barely held up by a tenuous thread of wood, so that some cartoon character can saunter up and try to crush its rival with one pinky finger push, only to have the tree fall the opposite way—you’d be thrilled with artificial Christmas trees. After all, the market for real Christmas trees—whether cut down en masse in factory-style or romantically stolen from the forest—wildly encroaches upon your beaver business model. But I digress. After years of public shaming, it’s time to talk about the wonder of fake Christmas trees. Fake trees do not shed. They do not suck up water. They do not cause random fits of sneezing. They do not contain hitchhiking woodland creatures that might just jump out and get tangled up in your hair. They do not sap all over your floor. They do not create laughable scenarios filled with swear words in which you struggle to fit them through a series of internal doors in your house. They do not threaten to set your house on fire. You do not have to drive yourself Clark Griswold crazy trying to strap a fake tree to the top of your car. Oh, and remember how I mentioned romantically stealing a tree from the forest? That almost never happens. It’s cold, and it’s miserable, and the kids want to go home, and oh, by the way, Audrey’s eyes are frozen, Clark.

6am – D         Trump taps Gen. John Kelly to lead Department of Homeland Security. (Washington Times) — President-elect Donald Trump has picked retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly to be the new secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, sources said Wednesday, selecting a career military man who, as head of American forces in Latin America, repeatedly warned of the dangers of drug legalization and the porous southwestern border. Gen. Kelly caught the eye of Mr. Trump’s top advisers with a forceful appearance before Congress in 2014 and 2015, where he said he was shocked at how easily smugglers were able to penetrate the U.S.-Mexico border, and said it represented a major hole in national security.

6am – E         Starbucks’ new upscale cafes that will sell $10 drinks and pizza are totally unrecognizable (SBUX). Starbucks is opening a new kind of store that serves pizza and $10 coffee drinks.  The first Starbucks Reserve store will open in West Loop, Illinois next year and a second will open in Seattle. The company plans to open both stores in the second half of 2017. Eventually, Starbucks says it hopes to open 1,000 of the upscale Reserve cafes around the world. It also has plans to add Reserve Bars, which serve more exotic, small-batch blends, at 20% of its stores globally.  Starbucks wants to open 20 to 30 Roasteries as well. These super-sized tourist-friendly locations serve expensive drinks like the $10 Nitro Cold Brew Float and roast coffee in-house. The Reserve stores will be twice the size of a typical Starbucks, at roughly 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. Locations will attempt to mimic the upscale feel of Starbucks’ Seattle Roastery — which has been described as the “Willy Wonka of coffee” — with creative designs, more expensive drinks, and a menu of Princi food made fresh in-house, including pastries, pizza, and booze.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – MARC MORANO – Climate Depot

• Donald Trump Picks Scott Pruitt, Ally of Fossil Fuel Industry, to Lead E.P.A.
• MARC MORANO: Trump ignores Gore’s advice, instead picks skeptic to head EPA & dismantle climate agenda
• DiCaprio meets with Trump on green jobs to boost economy/ Leonardo DiCaprio and the head of his foundation met Wednesday with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss how jobs centered on preserving the environment can boost the economy.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW — CHAD LIVENGOOD – Political reporter for The Detroit News

• Chad Livengood is a political reporter in The Detroit News’ Lansing bureau. He covers Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration, the Legislature and Michigan politics.
• Latest on the Michigan recount
• Federal judge halts recount, sealing Trump’s Michigan win. Recount ends in Michigan after 3 days; ongoing in Wisconsin. DETROIT — Michigan’s recount of presidential votes is over after a judge lifted an order that forced a statewide review of millions of ballots. The recount lasted three days in more than 20 of the state’s 83 counties. Some counties hadn’t planned to start until later.

7am – D/E     Surgeon general: Teen e-cig use ‘major public health concern’ (The Hill) — The Surgeon General is calling electronic cigarette use among youth and young adults a “major public health concern” in a new report to be released Thursday. In what will be the first comprehensive report on how electronic cigarettes are impacting the nation’s youth, the surgeon general found that marketing has played a key role in the skyrocketing rates of middle and high school students choosing to vape. According to a summary provided ahead of the report’s release, the surgeon general found that flavoring was one of the most cited reasons why youth and young adults use e-cigarettes, along with curiosity and low perceived harm. “These products are now the most commonly used form of tobacco among youth in the United States, surpassing conventional tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and hookahs,” Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in the report. “Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which can cause addiction and can harm the developing adolescent brain.” The report summary also notes that nicotine ingested during pregnancy can cause sudden infant death syndrome and brain damage. Though the report notes that the health effects of e-cigarettes are not completely known, it says e-cigarette aerosol is not a harmless water vapor – there are several known carcinogens contained therein.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — MARK KRIKORIAN — a nationally recognized expert on immigration issues and is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) – discussed Trump’s DHS pick.

• Trump picks Gen. Kelly to head DHS
• Border security hawk Gen. John Kelly attracts Trump Cabinet interest
• Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly picked to head Homeland Security
• Homeland Security: 900 percent surge in asylum demands, only half of illegals caught

8am – B         Entertainment News:

• Grammy country committee rejects Beyonce song. NEW YORK (AP) — Beyonce earned a whopping nine Grammy nominations Tuesday, including best rock performance, but the singer’s twangy song “Daddy Lessons” was rejected by the Recording Academy’s country music committee. A person familiar with the Grammy nomination process told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Beyonce submitted “Daddy Lessons” — from her album “Lemonade” — to the country category.  The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to speak publicly about the topic, said the country music committee rejected the song.
• DiCaprio meets with Trump on green jobs to boost economy. (AP) — Leonardo DiCaprio and the head of his foundation met Wednesday with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss how jobs centered on preserving the environment can boost the economy. In a statement to The Associated Press, Terry Tamminen, the CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, confirmed the meeting at Trump Tower in New York City. Tamminen said the pair gave a presentation to Trump, daughter Ivanka, and other members of Trump’s team on how focusing on renewable, clean energy could create millions of jobs.
• Review: ‘Hairspray’ has plenty of luster as NBC’s best live musical. (USA Today) — Stop this beat? Buttercup, you can’t even slow it down. Set in the ’60s, written for the big screen by John Waters in the ’80s, turned into a Tony-winning Broadway musical in 2002 and a hit movie musical in 2007, Hairspray returned as a live TV event Wednesday (*** 1/2 stars out of four) in all its toe-tapping, hand-clapping, cross-dressing, beehived glory. Brimming with great songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, opened up and spread out by directors Alex Rudzinski and Kenny Leon, this latest live NBC musical from Craig Zadan and Neil Meron was their best, most entertaining work yet.
• Bryan Nehman ‏@BryanNehman 4h4 hours ago: #Hairspray was solid last night but what’s up with the mountains in Baltimore?  Apparently, a lot has changed since 1962.

8am – C         Nats News:

• Inside Bryce Harper’s ‘Wow…’ heard around the world. NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Washington Nationals have officially joined the party at the winter meetings, but the cover charge was pretty steep. Just how steep?

Bryce Harper @Bharper3407 Wow… 5:50 PM – 7 Dec 2016

That was Bryce Harper’s reaction, just four minutes after the Nats announced the deal. Of course, you could take Harper’s comment a couple of different ways.

Bryce Harper ‏@Bharper3407 14h14 hours ago

Welcome to DC A.E! Let’s get it done #nationals

• Nats trade prospect Lucas Giolito to White Sox in deal for Adam Eaton. (ESPN) — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Washington Nationals acquired outfielder Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for three pitchers Wednesday. In return for Eaton, the Nationals sent right-handed pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning to Chicago. The trade, which represents Washington’s first major transaction of the offseason, comes one day after the Nats missed out on former White Sox ace Chris Sale, who had been strongly linked to the Nationals in trade talks but instead wound up going to the Boston Red Sox. “It’s never easy to let go of your prospects,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. “You feel like a proud daddy when they get to the big leagues.” Eaton, who turned 28 years old on Tuesday, hit .284 with 14 home runs, 59 RBIs and an American League-leading nine triples. Eaton has a .284 career batting average with a .357 on-base percentage and a .414 slugging percentage, with 34 homers and 177 RBIs in five seasons in the majors. He led the AL in triples in two of the past three seasons.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — JAKE TAPPER — Anchor of CNN’s THE LEAD and STATE OF THE UNION

• He’ll have BIDEN on his show today
• TRUMP TRANSITION: Trump taps Gen. John Kelly to lead Department of Homeland Security. Donald Trump Picks Scott Pruitt, Ally of Fossil Fuel Industry, to Lead E.P.A.  (despite Gore and DiCaprio meetings). Trump taps WWE co-founder Linda McMahon to lead Small Business Administration.
• Donald Trump’s Choice of Generals for Top Posts Raises Concerns. Critics see threat to civilian oversight of government; backers cite nominees’ broad experience.

8am – E         Ted Cruz is Really, Really Passionate About Cheese. Queso is a ‘visceral, emotional, powerful family bond.’ (Roll Call) — When it comes Texas queso, Sen. Ted Cruz will go to great lengths to defend his state. “Queso is made to be scooped up with tortilla chips, dribbling down your chin,” he said in his passionate plea to prove in a press scrum that Texas queso is better than Arkansas cheese dip. “It just tastes good, it speaks to the soul. Good queso relaxes you.” On Wednesday during the Republican Senate Steering Committee lunch in the Capitol, all 54 senators experienced a blind taste test and voted in ballot boxes for which dip they liked better. The event was sparked after a Twitter debate between Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and John Cornyn of Texas over which state’s dip was better following a Wall Street Journal article on Nov. 2 that said Arkansas is laying claim to queso. “Cheese dip can be served on a Ritz cracker,” Cruz said as Cornyn walked up with a confused look on his face. “One is a visceral, emotional, powerful family bond as you and your kids pour into nachos covered in queso, and the other is party favors at an afternoon tea. As for me, my heart lies with the great state of Texas.”