Liz Barrett of Frederick County Public Schools, Stuart Varney and White House’s Lindsay Walters joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, March 9, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Americans Getting To 66% Overweight Or Obese.

• Fewer heavy Americans are trying to lose weight, study finds. CHICAGO — Mar 7, 2017, 2:35 PM ET – Fewer overweight Americans have been trying to lose weight in recent years, and researchers wonder if fat acceptance could be among the reasons. The trend found in a new study occurred at the same time obesity rates climbed. “Socially accepted normal body weight is shifting toward heavier weight. As more people around us are getting heavier, we simply believe we are fine, and no need to do anything with it,” said lead author Dr. Jian Zhang, a public health researcher at Georgia Southern University. Another reason could be people abandoning efforts to drop pounds after repeated failed attempts, Zhang said. The researchers analyzed U.S. government health surveys over nearly two decades from 1988 through 2014. The surveys involved in-person physical exams and health-related questions including asking participants if they’d tried to lose weight within the past year. More than 27,000 adults aged 20 to 59 were included. They were not asked to explain their answers. In the early surveys, about half the adults were overweight or obese. Those numbers climbed to 65 percent by 2014. But the portion of overweight or obese adults who said they were trying to slim down fell from 55 percent to 49 percent in the study. Body mass index, a measure of height and weight, determines weight status. Those with a BMI of 25 to 29 are considered overweight; 30 and above is obese. A BMI of 30 generally reflects being about 50 pounds above your ideal weight.

5am – D         The FBI investigated a Trump server in its Russia probe, but no charges are expected. (CIRCA / SARA CARTER) — WATCH | Intelligence sources say that the FBI investigated a computer tied to Donald Trump’s business but there’s no evidence to date that would warrant criminal charges against any of the president’s associates. The months-long FBI counterintelligence investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential campaign briefly investigated a computer server tied to Donald Trump’s businesses near the end of the election but has not gathered evidence of election tampering to date that would warrant criminal charges against any of the president’s associates, Circa has learned. U.S. officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said there is widespread frustration among intelligence professionals who have watched in horror as a normally secretive process has been distorted by media leaks and politicians uneducated about how counterintelligence operations actually work.“We have people spouting off who don’t know the difference between FISA surveillance and a wiretap or a counterintelligence probe versus a special prosecutor, and it has hurts our ability to get to the truth and has wrongly created the impression that intelligence officials have a political agenda,” said one source directly familiar with the drama.

5am – E         ObamaCare Update:

• House panel nears 24 hour mark on markup of GOP’s ObamaCare repeal bill (The Hill) – A House panel’s markup of the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal and replace plan dragged on into the early hours of the morning Thursday with Republicans rejecting a number of Democrat-sponsored amendments.  The House Energy & Commerce Committee began its markup at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and was still going strong as of 5 a.m. Thursday with no end in sight.  Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said the committee would not adjourn until all amendments, including about 100 from Democrats, were considered. The committee had only made its way through 5 amendments as of Thursday morning, meaning Democrats could drag the markup through the rest of the week.  Democrats complained that Republicans are marking up the bill without a score from the Congressional Budget Office, which will indicate how many people may lose coverage under the GOP plan and how much it will cost.
• Ryan blames ‘growing pains’ for early divide over Obamacare replacement plan. (Politico) — House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday attributed Republican division over GOP leaders’ Obamacare replacement plan to “growing pains.” The House late Monday unveiled its plan to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. That legislation, however, has met with opposition from conservative lawmakers and powerful conservative groups split on insurance tax credits and Medicaid expansion. “I think what you’re seeing is: We’re going through the inevitable growing pains of being an opposition party to becoming a governing party,” Ryan told reporters at a news conference Wednesday morning. “And in being an opposition party, we had divided government.” The Wisconsin Republican said nearly two-thirds of House Republicans “have never known what it’s like to work with a Republican president, to have unified government.” “So it’s a new feel,” he added. “It’s a new system for people, but it’s all the more reason why we have to do what we said we would do and deliver for the American people and govern and use our principles. That’s what this is.”
• Cruz: GOP healthcare plan can’t pass the Senate. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) warned Wednesday that a House bill to repeal ObamaCare can’t pass the Senate without substantial changes. “The House bill is a beginning. The House bill as drafted, I do not believe, would pass the United States Sen ate,” he said. Cruz’s comments come ahead of a dinner meeting with President Trump on Wednesday night.
• Trump courts former foe Ted Cruz. President Trump appears to be courting Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), his onetime rival, to help sell the House’s healthcare plan to conservatives in Congress. The president and first lady Melania Trump hosted Cruz, wife Heidi, and their two children for dinner at the White House on Wednesday evening. The social occasion could help smooth over any lingering tension from their nasty 2016 primary. That race hit a low point when Trump accused Cruz’s father of consorting with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before he assassinated President Kennedy. In response, Cruz called Trump “utterly amoral” and a “pathological liar.” Now Trump and Cruz are hoping to bury the hatchet, as the GOP agenda hangs in the balance.

6am – A/B/C Court decisions prompt Hampton to reconsider panhandling law. HAMPTON, Va. (AP) – A Virginia city is reconsidering its panhandling law after federal courts struck down similar ones over freedom of speech. The Daily Press reports that Hampton’s ordinance bans repeated requests for a handout after the panhandler is told “no.” Abusive language intended to intimidate is also barred. Several federal courts across the country have recently struck down similar ordinances. Those decisions stem from interpretations of a Supreme Court ruling against an Arizona city’s regulation of church signs.

6am – D/E/F  House panel votes to urge federal agencies to consider locating outside of D.C. area. If it’s a federal government of the people, by the people, and for the people, why isn’t it located close to the people? Republicans in a key House committee passed a nonbinding resolution Wednesday morning getting at the very heart of that question, but only after a heated debate that fell largely along party lines. That led Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., to call for a roll call vote expected to be held later in the day. “This resolution borders on the frivolous and laughable,” Norton said during the House Oversight and Government Reform’s business meeting. “It would have devastating impacts on the federal government, on the capital of the United States and the national capital region.” Wednesday’s vote was on a nonbinding resolution, introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, that expresses ” the sense of the House of Representatives that offices attached to the seat of Government should not be required to exercise their offices in the District of Columbia.”

7am – A         IRS has 7,000 unreleased documents related to conservative and Tea Party targeting. (Washington Examiner) — The IRS has told a federal court that they’ve recently identified almost 7,000 more documents that could contain information on how the agency targeted the tax-exempt applications of Tea Party organizations or other conservative political groups starting back in 2010, according to a court document. But IRS in the document would not commit to a timeline for releasing the documents. The revelation of thousands of unreleased documents was made in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that specializes in filing, and in many instances litigating, FOIA requests. For Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, the admission from the IRS represents a significant breakthrough. “Our attorneys knew that there were more records to be searched but the Obama IRS ignored this issue for years,” Fitton said in a press release.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – LIZ BARRETT – VICE PRESIDENT OF Frederick County Public Schools board

• LAST NIGHT, FREDERICK COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD DISCUSSED AT A MEETING ABOUT WHETHER TO CREATE A “TRANSGENDER STUDENT POLICY”
• Frederick County school board to create transgender student policy. As the new presidential administration reverses federal protections for transgender students, the Frederick County school board plans to craft a local policy to ensure consistent treatment for gender non-conforming children. The decision to work on a policy related to transgender students comes as the Frederick County Board of Education had been publicly lobbied by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students and their local supporters. The board will start discussing the policy at its March 8 meeting, according to a board statement on Monday.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – STUART VARNEY – HOST OF ‘VARNEY AND COMPANY’ ON FOX BUSINESS NETWORK

• VARNEY: I see clear signs the economy is expanding….
• VARNEY: I see Trump has significant leverage to unify the GOP behind Obamacare reform and Tax Reform….
• VARNEY: Gas prices are about to go down. More good econ news also at the pump
• US private sector created 298K jobs in Feb. vs. 190K est.: ADP. Job creation posts blowout month in February, ADP says. (CNBC) — Companies added jobs at a blistering pace in February, with a notable shift away from the service-sector positions that have dominated hiring for years, according to a report Wednesday.  Employment in the private sector surged by 298,000 for the month, with goods producers adding 106,000, ADP and Moody’s Analytics said. Construction jobs swelled by 66,000 and manufacturing added 32,000. The total shattered market expectations of 190,000, according to economists surveyed by ADP. The blockbuster report also solidified market expectations for the Fed to hike interest rates next week. Probability for an increase jumped to 91 percent after the release, according to the CME. The report encompassed the first full month under President Donald Trump, who has pledged to rebuild the nation’s aging infrastructure system.

7am – E         SPRING NEWS:

• Cherry Blossom Peak Bloom Pushed to March 19-22. (WMAL) — WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The National Parks Service has pushed its projections for the cherry blossom peak bloom to March 19-22 due to cold weather. “Those cold temperatures are going to really retard the blossoming process,” National Parks Service spokesman Mike Litterst said.  BLOOM WATCH UPDATE – Due to colder than avg forecast temps this weekend, the cherry blossom peak bloom is now projected for March 19-22.    — National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) March 8, 2017   / The former prediction was March 14-17. Litterst said that if the flowers begin to blossom and another wave of freezing temperatures hit, they could be killed off completely.
• Mark the date _ April 17 is annual White House Easter Egg Roll, extending tradition dating to 1878: WASHINGTON (AP) — The annual White House Easter Egg Roll will take place on April 17. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump made the long-awaited announcement on Wednesday. Tickets are free to the public and will be distributed through an online lottery. The White House says details on how to enter will be released later in March. Families with children 13 years old and younger may participate in a day of festivities on the White House South Lawn. The White House Easter Egg Roll dates to 1878 and the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes.  The White House says new traditions are expected at next month’s event, the first Easter Egg Roll for Trump.

8am – A         The FBI investigated a Trump server in its Russia probe, but no charges are expected. (CIRCA / SARA CARTER) — WATCH | Intelligence sources say that the FBI investigated a computer tied to Donald Trump’s business but there’s no evidence to date that would warrant criminal charges against any of the president’s associates. The months-long FBI counterintelligence investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential campaign briefly investigated a computer server tied to Donald Trump’s businesses near the end of the election but has not gathered evidence of election tampering to date that would warrant criminal charges against any of the president’s associates, Circa has learned. U.S. officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said there is widespread frustration among intelligence professionals who have watched in horror as a normally secretive process has been distorted by media leaks and politicians uneducated about how counterintelligence operations actually work.“We have people spouting off who don’t know the difference between FISA surveillance and a wiretap or a counterintelligence probe versus a special prosecutor, and it has hurts our ability to get to the truth and has wrongly created the impression that intelligence officials have a political agenda,” said one source directly familiar with the drama.

8am – B/C  INTERVIEW – LINDSAY WALTERS – WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY — explained the proposed GOP healthcare bill and its benefits.

8am – D/E     House panel votes to urge federal agencies to consider locating outside of D.C. area. If it’s a federal government of the people, by the people, and for the people, why isn’t it located close to the people? Republicans in a key House committee passed a nonbinding resolution Wednesday morning getting at the very heart of that question, but only after a heated debate that fell largely along party lines. That led Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., to call for a roll call vote expected to be held later in the day. “This resolution borders on the frivolous and laughable,” Norton said during the House Oversight and Government Reform’s business meeting. “It would have devastating impacts on the federal government, on the capital of the United States and the national capital region.” Wednesday’s vote was on a nonbinding resolution, introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, that expresses ” the sense of the House of Representatives that offices attached to the seat of Government should not be required to exercise their offices in the District of Columbia.”