Weather Channel’s Ray Stagich, MD State Highway’s Shontai Felix, DC Public Works director Christopher Shorter, Capital Weather Gang’s Angela Fritz, National Cherry Blossom Festival’s Diana Mayhew, Rep. Jim Jordan, Larry Kudlow and DC Snowball Fight Association’s Michael Lipin joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A         INTERVIEW – RAY STAGICH – Radio Meteorologist for The Weather Channel – reported on the latest snow conditions in the DC area.

5am – B         Health Care Plan’s CBO Score Released:

• HHS secretary Tom Price slams CBO score: It’s ‘just not believable’
• NEWT GINGRICH: “They should abolish the Congressional Budget Office. It is corrupt, it is dishonest, it was totally wrong on Obamacare.”

5am – C         Virginia Woman Charged With Welfare Fraud For Collecting Benefits While Husband Earned Millions. Helen Agbapuruonwu collected over $100,000 in benefits over six years while her husband was working at a D.C. law firm. An Arlington woman was arrested this week and charged with four counts of welfare fraud for collecting over $100,000 in benefits – all while her husband was a high-earning attorney in D.C., police say. Police say a six-month investigation into Helen Agbapuruonwu, 41, found that the mother of four had collected benefits like food stamps and Medicaid assistance for the past six years. While Helen was collecting benefits, her husband, Fidelis Agbapuruonwu, was earning $1.5 million per year as a lawyer, according to court documents obtained by News4.

5am – D         Weather News:

• The Federal Government opens THREE hours late Tuesday in the DC area.  Employees can use unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework
• Metro will run on a Saturday schedule on Tuesday due to the snowstorm, while bus routes will run on a severe snow service plan.
• DC Public Schools are opening two hours late
• PUBLIC SCHOOLS – MARYLAND: Anne Arundel County Schools – Closed, Calvert County Schools – Open two hours late, Carroll County Schools – Closed, Charles County Schools – Closed, Frederick County Schools – Closed, Howard County Schools – Closed, Montgomery County Schools – Closed, Prince George’s County Schools – Closed

• PUBLIC SCHOOLS – VIRGINIA: Alexandria City Schools – Closed, Arlington County Schools – Closed, Fairfax County Schools – Closed, Falls Church City Schools – Closed, Fauquier County Schools – Closed, Fredericksburg City Schools – Closed, Loudoun County Schools – Closed, Manassas City Public Schools – Closed, Manassas Park City Public Schools – Closed, Prince William County Public Schools – Closed, Spotsylvania County Public Schools – Closed, Stafford County Schools – Closed
• Trump, Merkel meeting postponed due to weather. President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have postponed their highly anticipated first meeting thanks to a snowstorm expected to hit Washington, D.C., Monday. The meeting — originally set for Tuesday — has been pushed to Friday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.  Trump and Merkel are expected to hold a bilateral meeting and working lunch, then answer questions at a joint press conference.  Merkel was a close ally of former President Obama, but Trump has been critical of the influential European leader on issues such as trade and refugees.
• Snow storm cancels, delays several DC flights. Flights cancelled due to winter storm. WASHINGTON (WUSA9) – Several flights leaving from and arriving to the area Tuesday and Wednesday morning have already been canceled or delayed. Airlines have canceled more than 5,000 flights nationwide, according to USA Today. Most of the flights are to and from New York and Boston. According to Flightaware, there are mostly delays at D.C.-area airports, with the average delay being 47 minutes. But the cancelations keep coming in.
• Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump 9h9 hours ago: Meeting w/ Washington, D.C. @MayorBowser and Metro GM Paul Wiedefeld about incoming winter storm preparations here in D.C. Everyone be safe!
• Eleanor H. Norton‏ @EleanorNorton 11h11 hours ago: With snow expected tomorrow, a reminder to DC families that sledding is allowed on Capitol Hill! We successfully removed the ban last year.

5am – E         Trump signs executive order to cut government waste. President Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at cutting waste in the federal government.  Trump signed the measure in the Oval Office, telling reporters it requires a “thorough examination of every executive department and agency” to find out “where money is being wasted [and] how services can be improved.” The order does not seek a set amount of cuts, but it could result in a push to eliminate entire federal agencies or dramatically cut the size of the federal workforce.

6am – A         INTERVIEW – SHONTAI FELIX – Spokesperson, Maryland State Highway Administration

• MD State Highway Adm‏Verified account @MDSHA 1h: We’re out plowing & salting! Delay travel if possible. Stay home w/warm blankets & we’ll handle the roads sf #mdotnews
• State Highway Admin. Responding Overnight For Storm-Related Conditions. BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Maryland’s State Highway Administration is responding to the major winter storm underway on Monday night. MDSHA and MDTA says they are responding with 2,183 people and vehicles ready to plow and salt as needed.

6am – B         Trump Wiretap News:

• Spicer: Trump ‘doesn’t really think’ Obama wiretapped him personally. (Politico) — White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that President Donald Trump “doesn’t really think” that Barack Obama “tapped his phone personally,” seeming to walk back Trump’s explosive and unsubstantiated claim that his predecessor ordered an illegal wiretap of Trump Tower. “He doesn’t really think that President Obama went up and tapped his phone personally,” Spicer told reporters at the afternoon press briefing. Spicer tried to argue that Trump had accused the Obama administration of general “surveillance” activities, and not a literal wiretap, even though Trump himself had use the term “wire tapping” in one of several tweets making the claim without evidence on March 4. Spicer claimed that the fact that Trump put quotation marks around the words “wire tapping” in one tweet was proof that he was not speaking literally. “I think there is no question that the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election. That is a widely-reported activity that occurred back then,” Spicer said. “The president used the word wiretap in quotes to mean broadly surveillance and other activities during that.”
• Justice Department asks for more time on Trump wiretapping claim. (Fox News) — The Justice Department asked lawmakers for more time Monday to gather evidence related to President Trump’s claim that President Obama ordered wiretaps on Trump Tower’s phones during last year’s presidential election campaign. The House intelligence committee said it would give the Justice Department until March 20 to comply. The committee is scheduled to hold its first open hearing on Russia’s interference in the 2016 race and possible contacts between Trump associates and Russia on that date. A spokesman for committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said the panel might use its subpoena power to gather information if the Justice Department doesn’t meet the new deadline.

6am – C         D.C. Is One Of The Ten Happiest Places To Live, According To One Report. (DCist) – Out of 150 places, D.C. ranks tenth on a new WalletHub report that lists the happiest places to live in the country. WalletHub’s analysts used data from U.S. Census, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other sources to make comparisons across three dimensions: emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment.  The categories were broken down into 30 “key indicators of happiness,” ranging from depression and divorce rates to fewest work hours and average leisure time spent per day. (The study didn’t factor in D.C.’s proximity to Arlington, which Expedia recently named the third hippest city in the country.)

6am – D         INTERVIEW – RAY STAGICH – Radio Meteorologist for The Weather Channel – reported on the latest snow conditions in the DC area.

• …WINTER Weather Adviory IN EFFECT FROM Until 2 PM EDT TUESDAY…
• Today|Periods of rain and snow/sleet/freezing rain…..Windy. High 39F. Winds NNW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of precip 100%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
• Tonight|Decreasing cloudiness and windy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 24F. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph.

6am – E         Michael Brown Documentary Filmmaker Freaks Out, Screams At Fox Host [VIDEO]. (Daily Caller) — Movie-maker Jason Pollock was not happy to be questioned on Fox News Channel. The director of “Strange Fruit,” which claims Michael Brown — the 18-year-old man who was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 — did not rob a convenience store prior to the fight with police which led to his death. “You know how the system works. These cops get off every single time,” Pollock declared. Pollock started the segment by rolling his eyes as Fox host Martha MacCallum introduced a news package about the “new footage.” The situation devolved from there. “I am simply stunned by that report, simply stunned,” Pollock said. “Fake news 101.” Pollock’s thesis is Brown, who allegedly robbed the convenience store just before his fatal confrontation, did not rob the store, but what was previously seen on surveillance footage taking part in a drug deal that had gone bad. Authorities in Missouri dispute this claim. Asked what difference it makes if Brown had robbed the store, since his encounter with police had nothing to do with the alleged robbery, Pollock replied, “That’s a very interesting way to phrase this ’cause I completely agree with you. And the reason we put out this convenience store tape now is so that people could get over it, because he didn’t rob the store. And anyone who sees the exchange that takes place with a conscience, a heart, two minds, and is not a bigot pretty much understands what happened.”

6am – F         Trump’s State Department refuses to look for Hillary Clinton’s emails. Judicial Watch was hoping that “Team Trump” would also mean team transparency. But the conservative watchdog group was disappointed Monday after State Department lawyers were still insisting — even under their new President Trump-appointed leadership — that they have no intention of trying to find any potential as-yet uncovered Hillary Clinton emails from her time at the department. Given that Trump once joked that Russia should find Hillary’s missing emails, it’s an ironic twist for Judicial Watch that it can’t get Trump’s own State Department to cooperate. At a hearing in Washington on Monday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the State Department said it will continue to seek a dismissal of Judicial With Cause of Action also acting as a plaintiff, Judicial Watch is hoping to use a small bit of the Federal Records Act to force the State Department to locate more Clinton emails from her tenure as secretary of state.

7am – A         Interview – CHRISTOPHER SHORTER – DC Director of the Department of Public Works — recapped how DC prepared in anticipation of the snow.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – ANGELA FRITZ – Meteorologist for the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang

• Updates: Very slippery wintry mix icing over region, changing to snow later this morning. (Washington Post) — * Winter weather advisory for immediate metro area until 2 p.m. / D.C.-area forecast: Morning winter blast fades later today, but the cold wind hangs around. Snow and mixed precipitation, heavy at times, fell overnight. With temperatures near and below freezing in many areas, roads are slick. This morning the wintry mix should gradually change back to all snow before ending between midday and mid-afternoon. Snow and sleet accumulations in the immediate metro region should be two to four inches. Well north and west of the city, in Frederick, Carroll and western Loudoun counties, where precipitation is mostly snow, total snow accumulations are likely to exceed six inches.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — DIANA MAYHEW — President, National Cherry Blossom Festival

• TOPIC: How the weather could impact the Cherry Blossom Festival and are there any changes or additions to the festival schedule?
• 90 pct. loss of cherry blossoms possible
• Peak bloom unlikely for Tidal Basin cherry blossoms
• Cold snap threatens cherry blooms in DC

7am – E         Trump News:

• HHS secretary Tom Price slams CBO score: It’s ‘just not believable.’ The Trump administration on Monday slammed a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate that millions of people would become uninsured under the Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare.  “We disagree strenuously with the report that was put out,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told reporters at the White House.  Price said the analysis released Monday afternoon does not take into account the entirety of the GOP plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which he said would cover more people while lowering costs.
• Trump signs executive order to cut government waste. President Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at cutting waste in the federal government.  Trump signed the measure in the Oval Office, telling reporters it requires a “thorough examination of every executive department and agency” to find out “where money is being wasted [and] how services can be improved.” The order does not seek a set amount of cuts, but it could result in a push to eliminate entire federal agencies or dramatically cut the size of the federal workforce.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OHIO) —  a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus – discussed the fight over GOP’s health care plan.

• Rep. Jim Jordan: ‘Let’s Repeal Obamacare, Not Create Some Different Form of Obamacare’
• Rep. Jordan: Fulfill Promise to Voters with ‘Clean Repeal’ of ObamaCare
• HHS secretary Tom Price slams CBO score: It’s ‘just not believable’

8am – B         INTERVIEW – KATHLEEN LEONARD – Spokesperson, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) – discussed the roads conditions in Northern Virginia.

• MORE SNOW NEWS:

• Trump, Merkel meeting postponed due to weather. President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have postponed their highly anticipated first meeting thanks to a snowstorm expected to hit Washington, D.C., Monday. The meeting — originally set for Tuesday — has been pushed to Friday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.  Trump and Merkel are expected to hold a bilateral meeting and working lunch, then answer questions at a joint press conference.  Merkel was a close ally of former President Obama, but Trump has been critical of the influential European leader on issues such as trade and refugees.
• Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump 9h9 hours ago: Meeting w/ Washington, D.C. @MayorBowser and Metro GM Paul Wiedefeld about incoming winter storm preparations here in D.C. Everyone be safe!
• Eleanor H. Norton‏ @EleanorNorton 11h11 hours ago: With snow expected tomorrow, a reminder to DC families that sledding is allowed on Capitol Hill! We successfully removed the ban last year.

8am – C         Maryland Joins Lawsuit Against Revised Travel Ban. Maryland’s attorney general has joined 13 other states in supporting President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban. ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s attorney general has joined 13 other states in supporting President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban. Brian Frosh said in a news release that on Monday he filed an amicus brief in the District Court for Hawaii. Hawaii has asked for a temporary restraining order blocking the enforcement of the president’s revised travel ban. Frosh says the proposed ban will hurt Maryland’s universities and economy. Frosh is using a new authority granted by the state legislature.  Fearful of Trump’s policies, the Maryland General Assembly empowered Frosh, a Democrat, to sue the federal government without permission from the state’s Republican governor.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm and author of “JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity”

• Trump to draw battle lines with his budget. President Trump will send his budget to Capitol Hill Thursday, setting off a brawl with Democrats as well as fellow Republicans who are alarmed over a range of proposed deep cuts to federal programs. Trump’s ambitious fiscal blueprint will break the de facto truce that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) negotiated in 2013 — and leaders renewed with the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act — that ended years of bitter fighting over defense and discretionary spending.
• HHS secretary Tom Price slams CBO score: It’s ‘just not believable’
• NEWT GINGRICH: “They should abolish the Congressional Budget Office. It is corrupt, it is dishonest, it was totally wrong on Obamacare.”
• Trump signs executive order to cut government waste. President Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at cutting waste in the federal government.  Trump signed the measure in the Oval Office, telling reporters it requires a “thorough examination of every executive department and agency” to find out “where money is being wasted [and] how services can be improved.” The order does not seek a set amount of cuts, but it could result in a push to eliminate entire federal agencies or dramatically cut the size of the federal workforce.

8am – E         INTERVIEW – MICHAEL LIPIN – spokesperson, Washington DC Snowball Fight Association – discussed why the snowball fight will not happen today.