Rep. Scott Taylor, Montgomery County School Board President Michael Durso, The Hill’s Joe Concha, Fmr DC Mayor Vincent Gray, Larry Kudlow and guest host Mary Walter joined WMAL on Tuesday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C   Valerie Jarrett congratulates President Obama on a scandal-free administration. Top President Barack Obama White House advisor Valerie Jarrett said in an interview with CNN Sunday that his administration has not seen a single scandal. “The president prides himself on the fact that his administration hasn’t had a scandal and he hasn’t done something to embarrass himself,” she said on Fareed Zakaria GPS.

5am – D         Congress is back:

• Congress opens with an ambitious Republican agenda for the Trump era. A Republican-controlled Congress opens Tuesday with the most sweeping conservative agenda in decades, providing Donald Trump ample room to gut the Affordable Care Act, slash corporate tax rates and undo Obama-era environmental regulations.
• Nancy Pelosi tells Republicans if they break Obamacare, they own it. During a Democratic conference call on Monday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) discussed the future of Obamacare. According to The Hill, Pelosi hasn’t ruled out working with the GOP when it comes to replacing the Affordable Care Act when it is inevitably repealed. She does say this with a warning included, however. “The ball is in their court,” Pelosi said during a Democratic conference call on Monday, according to ABC’s Rick Klein. “You break it, you own it.”
• Republican Congress puts priority on targeting regulations. (USA Today) — WASHINGTON — Bills to block or roll back federal regulations, initially conceived by Republicans as a check on President Obama’s power, are high on the agenda when the House returns to Washington this week and the changes could become reality shortly after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. The 115th Congress begins Tuesday with a Republican majority in the House and Senate preparing for the arrival of a Republican president for the first time in eight years. The House is expected to take up two bills — the Midnight Rules Act and the REINS Act (which stands for Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) — that passed on largely party-line votes in the 114th, 113th and 112th congressional sessions, but died in the Senate. The REINS Act would require that before any new major regulation could take effect, the House and Senate would have to pass a resolution of approval. The Midnight Rules Act would let Congress invalidate rules in bulk that passed in the final year of a presidential term.

5am – E         Chicago News:

• Trump calls for ‘federal help’ to combat Chicago’s shockingly high murder rate. (NY Daily News) — Trump suggested that the federal government should get involved to help Chicago combat its sky-high murder rate. Chicago had more homicides than New York and Los Angeles combined in 2016 — and the overwhelming majority of the deadly shootings occurred in the same five neighborhoods. Police officials in Chicago said the murder spike was gang-related, and most of the homicides weren’t random shootings.“Chicago murder rate is record setting — 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. If Mayor can’t do it he must ask for Federal help!” Trump tweeted Monday afternoon.
• Obama to deliver farewell speech in Chicago. Honolulu, Hawaii (CNN)President Barack Obama will deliver his farewell address to the nation on January 10 from his home city of Chicago, the President announced in a statement Monday. “I’m thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here,” Obama wrote. President Obama said he was following the precedent set by George Washington, who penned a farewell address to the American people over 220 years ago.

6am – A/B/C France gives workers ‘right to disconnect’ from office email. (CNN) – French workers have won the right to ignore business emails that arrive after hours. A new labor law that took effect on Sunday gives employees the “right to disconnect” from email, smartphones and other electronic leashes once their working day has ended. “These measures are designed to ensure respect for rest periods and … balance between work and family and personal life,” the Ministry of Labor said in a statement. The rule requires companies with 50 or more employees to negotiate new out-of-office email guidelines with staff. Firms have a duty to regulate the use of emails to ensure employees get a break from the office. If management and staff cannot agree on new rules, the firm must publish a charter to define and regulate when employees should be able to switch off. French unions have long pushed for a “disconnect” rule, saying digital technologies have created an “explosion of undeclared labor” that is forcing employees to work outside the typical work week.

6am – D         ASSANGE AND RUSSIA:

• Assange To Hannity: Source For WikiLeaks Was Not Russian Government
• Spicer: ‘Zero evidence’ Russia influenced election
• Donald Trump Is No ‘Email Person’ but ‘Knows Things About Hacking’ / Mr Trump said he knew “things that other people don’t know” about alleged Russian cyber attacks, which he would reveal “on Tuesday or Wednesday”.

6am – E         Finland becomes 1st country to pay unemployed basic monthly income. Finland to pay unemployed basic income of $587 per month.  HELSINKI (AP) — Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587), in a unique social experiment which is hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment. Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA, which is responsible for the country’s social benefits, said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1. Those chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive. The average private sector income in Finland is 3,500 euros per month, according to official data. Kangas said the scheme’s idea is to abolish the “disincentive problem” among the unemployed. The trial aims to discourage people’s fears “of losing out something”, he said, adding that the selected persons would continue to receive the 560 euros even after receiving a job. A jobless person may currently refuse a low-income or short-term job in the fear of having his financial benefits reduced drastically under Finland’s generous but complex social security system.

6am – F         D.C. Mayor Vince Gray sworn into D.C. Council. WASHINGTON — (WMAL) A very familiar person in D.C. politics will be moving back into an office at the Wilson Building today. Former D.C. Mayor Vince Gray will be sworn in as the representative for Ward 7 on the city council. “In a sense it’s full circle,” Gray said. He was first elected to serve as the Ward 7 council member in 2005. In 2007 he was elected council chair, and in 2011 he became mayor. In 2014 Gray lost a re-election bid in the Democratic primary to current Mayor Muriel Bowser. Many blame that loss on a looming investigation into whether Gray was involved in a shadow campaign. That investigation wrapped up in 2016 without any charges brought against Gray. Despite being out of public office since 2015, Gray said he has visited the Wilson Building many times. He’s excited to return to public office and be given another chance to help his ardent supporters in Ward 7.  He said he will try to put the past aside to work with his enemy Mayor Muriel Bowser to get things done for his constituents including bringing more sit-down restaurants to his ward and decreasing crime.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – Congressman-Elect SCOTT TAYLOR – retired American Navy SEAL and the United States Representative-elect for Virginia’s 2nd congressional district

• BIO: Taylor was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates for the 85th district in November 2013, where, as a delegate, Taylor won the Republican nomination for Virginia’s 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2016, defeating Randy Forbes in the primary, and won the general election on November 8, 2016
• Congress returns to work with big to-do list under Trump era
• Scott Taylor prepares to be sworn in to Congress. WASHINGTON, D.C.– Congressman-elect Scott Taylor is in Washington D.C. preparing to be sworn in as Hampton Roads’ newest Congressman in the 115th Congress.

7am – B         Schwarzenegger’s ‘Apprentice’ makes its debut. ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ recap: How Arnold stacks up against Donald. He’s the new boss in the boardroom. But the jury is still out on whether Arnold Schwarzenegger is bringing a new attitude to The New Celebrity Apprentice. Schwarzenegger, who replaces President-elect (and executive producer) Donald Trump as host of NBC’s reality series, got right down to business in Monday’s opener. While often stiff and sometimes appearing uncomfortable in his surroundings, he told contestants that they should address him as “Governor” in  the boardroom. OK, that’s different. But he didn’t hide his displeasure when the players interrupted him during meetings and complained when  one contestant talked too much. Oh, those facial expressions. Sound familiar? After a handful of the contestants were highlighted in the first part of the eighth-season premiere, which relocated the show to Los Angeles, the former governor of California dispatched the contestants to discuss team names.

7am – C         Kirk Cousins remains coy about his feelings toward the Redskins. (Washington Post) — One day after throwing a pair of interceptions in a season-ending loss to the Giants, Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins answered more questions about his future in Washington. What Cousins didn’t say during a lengthy interview with Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier on 106.7 The Fan was perhaps as telling as what he did say after completing his first season while playing under the franchise tag. “I think we’re going to find out,” Cousins said when asked how wanted he feels by the Redskins’ front office. “Those conversations haven’t happened since July 15, or even before that. So, I guess time will tell. It’s still going to play itself out, but as I said last night, you know, it really isn’t my choice. Much like when I was drafted here, the franchise tag pretty much plays out the same way. You’re coming back, or nothing. When I was drafted, it’s you’re drafted here or nothing. So you go, and you do it, and the tag is no different. It’s really not my call, or my choice to make. If they don’t tag me, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but the nature of the tag is that the ball is in their court, and it’s really not my call.” The Redskins have three options with Cousins this offseason. They could let him become a free agent, use the franchise tag on him for a second year at a cost of nearly $24.5 million or sign him to a long-term contract. The final option requires Cousins wanting to remain with the franchise that drafted him in 2012, but that wasn’t convinced enough after his breakout season in 2015 to offer him a long-term deal at market value last sum

7am – D         INTERVIEW — MICHAEL DURSO – President and District 5 School Board Member for the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education

• Debate over school start times flares anew. (Washington Post) — Nearly two years after Montgomery County leaders voted to start the school day later so teenagers could get more sleep, the debate that many thought was settled shows signs of making a comeback in Maryland’s largest school system. Principals in elementary schools have been speaking out about the toll of schedule changes — drowsy children, longer bus rides, families strapped for child care. Employee unions are urging a return to the school hours of old, saying it would be best for students and staff. But parents who support later school days have weighed in, too, with many emailing letters backing the changes adopted in early 2015. “Please do NOT revert to old bell times!!!” one high school parent wrote. “If anything I wish high school bell times were later.” The issue came up briefly at a school board meeting in December and is on the agenda for the Jan. 10 meeting. “I think there have been some unintended consequences,” said Michael A. Durso, board president. “We’ll look at it and discuss it and maybe there are some angles we haven’t thought of,” he added. “We’re just kind of exploratory at this point.” The 2015 decision to reset the 7:25 a.m. opening bells of high school 20 minutes later — to 7:45 a.m. — followed more than two years of study and debate and was viewed by some elected leaders as a no-cost “first step” toward healthier school hours for teenagers. Supporters have argued that later high school start times are in line with research showing that adolescents are biologically wired for later bedtimes and wake-ups, and that lack of rest is linked to increased risks of depression, car accidents and other problems. But the changes at high schools affected schedules across the 204-school system. Elementary schools, which open in two waves, now start at 9 a.m. or 9:25 a.m., 10 minutes later than before, and their dismissals come 20 minutes later, so the length of the school day has been extended.

7am – E         Critter News: Dog Named ‘Scarface’ Mauls Florida Owners After They Try to Put Sweater on Him. (KTLA) – A dog named ‘Scarface’ sent two people to the hospital after its owner tried to put a sweater on him, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. on Friday when 52-year-old Brenda Guerrero tried to put a sweater on the dog and it attacked her. Her husband, 46-year-old Ismael Guerrero, tried to pull the dog off of his wife and it turned and began attacking him. That’s when their 22-year-old son got a knife and began stabbing the pit bull mix in the head and neck, the newspaper reports. All three were able to escape the house and leave the dog in the backyard. “Officers responding said the dog was pretty aggressive,” said Eddy Durkin with the Tampa Bay police, according to WTFS. “When they Tased the dog, the dog was still pulling away and was able to release the prongs from the Taser.” Officials said there were two children in the house when they entered, but they were uninjured.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — JOE CONCHA — Media Reporter, The Hill

• ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ recap: How Arnold stacks up against Donald

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — Former D.C. Mayor VINCE GRAY – discussed being sworn as the DC Ward 7 council member and joined D.C. government again.

• D.C. Mayor Vince Gray sworn into D.C. Council. WASHINGTON — (WMAL) A very familiar person in D.C. politics will be moving back into an office at the Wilson Building today. Former D.C. Mayor Vince Gray will be sworn in as the representative for Ward 7 on the city council. “In a sense it’s full circle,” Gray said. He was first elected to serve as the Ward 7 council member in 2005. In 2007 he was elected council chair, and in 2011 he became mayor. In 2014 Gray lost a re-election bid in the Democratic primary to current Mayor Muriel Bowser. Many blame that loss on a looming investigation into whether Gray was involved in a shadow campaign. That investigation wrapped up in 2016 without any charges brought against Gray. Despite being out of public office since 2015, Gray said he has visited the Wilson Building many times. He’s excited to return to public office and be given another chance to help his ardent supporters in Ward 7.  He said he will try to put the past aside to work with his enemy Mayor Muriel Bowser to get things done for his constituents including bringing more sit-down restaurants to his ward and decreasing crime.

8am – D         INTERVIEW —  LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm

• KUDLOW’s new book is “JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity”
• New Year outlook for stocks, econ, politics
• Congress opens with an ambitious Republican agenda for the Trump era. A Republican-controlled Congress opens Tuesday with the most sweeping conservative agenda in decades, providing Donald Trump ample room to gut the Affordable Care Act, slash corporate tax rates and undo Obama-era environmental regulations.
• Valerie Jarrett congratulates President Obama on a scandal-free administration. Top President Barack Obama White House advisor Valerie Jarrett said in an interview with CNN Sunday that his administration has not seen a single scandal. “The president prides himself on the fact that his administration hasn’t had a scandal and he hasn’t done something to embarrass himself,” she said on Fareed Zakaria GPS.

8am – E         ASSANGE AND RUSSIA:

• Assange To Hannity: Source For WikiLeaks Was Not Russian Government
• Spicer: ‘Zero evidence’ Russia influenced election
• Donald Trump Is No ‘Email Person’ but ‘Knows Things About Hacking’ / Mr Trump said he knew “things that other people don’t know” about alleged Russian cyber attacks, which he would reveal “on Tuesday or Wednesday”.