Sarah Westwood, Peter Brookes, Larry Kudlow and guest host Vince Coglianese joined WMAL on Tuesday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C HOME ALONE IN LOUDOUN: 3 kids under 9 years old left home alone in Va.; mother arrested for abuse, child neglect. STERLING, Va. (ABC7) — A mother was arrested after her three kids, all under the age of 9, were found home alone with “minimal food,” according to Loudoun County Police. Santos M. Serrano-Flores, 45, was charged with three counts of felony abuse and neglect of children. Police say she is being held without bond. The incident took place in the 500 block of E. Poplar Road. Police say the children have been placed with Loudoun County Child Protective Services. Police say Serrano-Flores was served with two misdemeanor warrants for domestic assault related to another incident.

5am – D         Maryland General Assembly pushes hundreds of bills to passage on final day. (Baltimore Sun) — The Maryland General Assembly pushed hundreds of bills across the finish line Monday, concluding its 437th session by passing legislation that would make the state’s attorney general the first in the country with power to sue drug companies for price gouging. Lawmakers voted to bar colleges from asking about a prospective student’s criminal history in an initial application. They also passed legislation that would let beekeepers shoot bears that attack hives, limit how much students can be tested each year, forbid poultry companies from routinely treating chickens with antibiotics, and devote more resources to addressing the escalating heroin epidemic. They failed, however, to approve an expansion of the state’s nascent medical marijuana industry. Negotiators agreed Maryland needs more minority-owned medical marijuana firms; they could not agree on the details. By Monday, the annual 90 days of lawmaking had already produced a few big policy accomplishments, banning the controversial natural gas extraction technique known as fracking and approving a bill that would give five paid sick days to most Maryland workers.

5am – E         Tillerson headed to Russia:

• Putin snubs Tillerson over Syria strikes as he denies Trump’s Secretary of State a meeting – but White House says it won’t be deterred from MORE action if Assad uses gas again. Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t meet with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he’s in Moscow on Wednesday – an apparent snub after the Trump administration dropped bombs on Syria last week. Putin is passing Tillerson off to his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov.  The Kremlin did not say why the Russian president was avoiding Tillerson after meeting repeatedly with his predecessor, John Kerry, in the Obama years.
• Secy of State Tillerson looking to get Russia to commit to action against ISIS, says White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, of Tillerson’s talks in Moscow.
• AP: Russia Knew In Advance About Syria Chemical Attack

6am – A/B/C UNITED DRAGS PASSENGER OFF OF THE PLANE

• United overbooked and then after everyone boarded, they realized they needed to boot 4 passengers to put United employees on.  When no one volunteered, they just picked  names and threw you off.  This guy fought back, they brought police on and dragged this guy down the aisle.
• Officer who dragged passenger off United flight placed on leave. (The Hill) —  The security officer who violently dragged a passenger off a United Airlines flight Sunday evening has reportedly been placed on leave, pending an investigation. “The incident on United flight 3411 was not in accordance with our standard operating procedure and the actions of the aviation security officer are obviously not condoned by the Department,” the Chicago Department of Aviation said in a statement on Monday, according to NBC News. “That officer has been placed on leave effective today pending a thorough review of the situation.” United CEO Oscar Munoz said in a Monday statement that the airline is conducting its own detailed review of the “upsetting event” and is reaching out directly to the passenger who was forcibly removed from an overbooked flight from Chicago to Louisville. “I apologize for having to re-accommodate these passengers,” Munoz said.
• United Airlines CEO tells employees staff followed protocol. (The Hill) — The head of United Airlines said in an email to his employees Monday that the security guards who violently dragged a passenger from his seat were following “established procedures for dealing with situations like this,” according to a tweet by CNBC reporter Steve Kopack. “As you will read, the situation was unfortunately compounded when one of the passengers we politely asked to deplane refused and it became necessary to contact the Chicago Aviation Security Officers to help. Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this,” wrote Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines. Munoz’s message to staff comes amid public scrutiny after a passenger refused to relinquish his seat on an overbooked plane and was violently dragged off the plane by three security officers.  Surfaced videos of the incident have since gone viral.  Munoz opened the letter by saying he too was “upset to see and hear about what happened” the Sunday night.
• United Airlines shares set to plummet after man dragged screaming off flight. Shares in United Airlines were nearly 6% lower in premarket trading on Tuesday as the company scrambled to address a video showing a passenger being forcibly dragged off an overbooked flight. United Continental Holdings (UAL) weathered the initial waves of anger caused by the video on Monday, with shares closing with a 0.9% gain. But momentum appears to have turned overnight.
• Eleanor Holmes Norton demands congressional hearing over United Airlines fiasco. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., on Tuesday will demand the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hold a hearing about a United Airlines passenger who was physically harmed after being dragged off a flight in Chicago over the weekend. “I deplore the violent removal of a passenger from a United Airlines flight this weekend. Airline passengers must have protections against such abusive treatment,” Norton said in a statement Monday evening. “I am asking our committee for a hearing, which will allow us to question airport police, United Airlines personnel, Federal Aviation Administration officials, and airport officials, among others, about whether appropriate procedures were in place in Chicago and are in place across the United States when passengers are asked to leave a flight,” Norton added.

6am – D/E     Rise of the ‘kidults’: why toys are no longer just for children. (Telegraph) — According to new research conducted by NPD Group, a retail analyst, sales of toys to adults have increased by almost two thirds over the past five years, and by more than 20 per cent in just the last year. As a result, the ‘toys for adults’ market (which, by the way, is a careful Google search, best done at home) is now worth £300m – and said to be growing three times faster than the children’s toy market itself. As with most things, millennials are largely to blame. More than half of the ‘kidult’ spend comes from 18 to 34-year-olds, snapping up everything from £500 Scalextric sets to drones, Nerf guns and £2,00 Star Wars Lego models.

6am – F         SPORTS NEWS:

• Ravens will open preseason at home against the Washington Redskins on Aug. 10. M&T Bank Stadium will not only host the Ravens’ preseason opener, but it will also be the site of the third preseason game, the team’s most extensive dress rehearsal before the start of the regular season. The NFL released its preseason schedule Monday and the Ravens will get things started at home on Aug. 10 against the Washington Redskins.
• Um, did a Martha Stewart tweet ruin a Yankee’s perfect game? The first rule about baseball’s elusive perfect game is YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT THE PERFECT GAME UNTIL IT’S PERFECT.  Here’s why, as illustrated by one Martha Stewart.  A “perfect game” in baseball is when a pitcher completes a full game while retiring every batter he faces — over nine innings that’s 27 batters faced and 27 batters retired. It hasn’t happened in Major League Baseball since 2012, and is one of most difficult accomplishments in baseball. That’s why, when a pitcher is threatening to throw a perfect game — say for example, he’s perfect through several innings — teammates and fans go to great lengths not to mention the masterpiece-in-progress for fear of jinxing it.  Stewart, apparently, never got that memo.
• Martha Stewart @MarthaStewart It’s top of the seventh here at yankee stadium and the Yankees are pitching a perfect game versus the Tampa rays 2:51 PM – 10 Apr 2017
• MLB @MLB .@Evan3Longoria breaks up Michael Pineda’s perfect-game bid with a 2-out double in the 7th: http://atmlb.com/2pmJSty  2:54 PM – 10 Apr 2017

7am – A         INTERVIEW — PETER BROOKES — Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs at The Heritage Foundation

• BIO: Brookes has served with the CIA and the State Department at the United Nations. In the private sector, he worked in the defense and intelligence industries. A decorated Navy veteran, Dr. Brookes served on active duty in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East in aviation and intelligence billets. He has more than 1,300 flight hours aboard the Navy’s EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft. Now a retired Navy commander, Dr. Brookes also served as a reservist with the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Naval Intelligence, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Office of the Vice President, working as an intelligence analyst, strategic debriefer, Russian language interpreter, defense attaché, policy adviser and associate professor at the Joint Military Intelligence College.
• TOPIC:  Tillerson headed to Russia:
• Putin snubs Tillerson over Syria strikes as he denies Trump’s Secretary of State a meeting – but White House says it won’t be deterred from MORE action if Assad uses gas again
• Secy of State Tillerson looking to get Russia to commit to action against ISIS, says White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, of Tillerson’s talks in Moscow.
• AP: Russia Knew In Advance About Syria Chemical Attack

7am – B         HOME SALES

• It’s a seller’s market!  The national supply of homes for sale hasn’t been this thin in nearly 20 years. And over the past year, the steepest drop in supply has occurred among homes that are typically most affordable for first-time buyers and in markets where prices have risen sharply.
• Mission nearly impossible this spring: Finding a home to buy. Anyone eager to buy a home this spring probably has reasons to feel good. The job market is solid. Average pay is rising. And mortgage rates, even after edging up of late, are still near historic lows. And then there’s the bad news: Just try to find a house. The national supply of homes for sale hasn’t been this thin in nearly 20 years. And over the past year, the steepest drop in supply has occurred among homes that are typically most affordable for first-time buyers and in markets where prices have risen sharply. In markets like San Diego, Boston and Seattle, competition for a dwindling supply has escalated along with pressure to offer more money and accept less favorable terms. “Sellers will have the edge again this year,” said Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist for Trulia, a real estate data provider. “Homebuyers are really going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as housing choice is concerned.” The intensity of the competition this spring has surprised even sellers like Kathleen Mulcahy, a 37-year-old product manager in Seattle.

7am – C         CAITLIN JENNER NO LONGER HAS A MALE PRIVATE PARTS: Caitlyn Jenner’s BIG Book Reveal: I’ve Had The FINAL Surgery — Bye, Bye Penis! The Olympian reveals in new tell-all that she is now ‘liberated.’ Caitlyn Jenner has finally undergone genital surgery in her years-long transition from male to female, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal. In the reality star’s new memoir, The Secrets of My Life, she claims she had the “Final Surgery” in January 2017, nearly two years after she publicly announced her identity as a trans woman in an explosive interview with Diane Sawyer. “The surgery was a success, and I feel not only wonderful but liberated,” she writes in the new memoir, out April 25. The 67-year-old former Olympic gold medalist claims she came clean so fans will stop asking about her nether regions. “I am telling you because I believe in candor,” she explains. “So all of you can stop staring. You want to know, so now you know. Which is why this is the first time, and the last time, I will ever speak of it.” Earlier in the book, Jenner calls the surgery a “complex decision,” due in large part to the health risks associated with the operation. But, she says she still considers going under the knife to have “all the right parts.” “So why even consider it? Because it’s just a penis. It has no special gifts or use for me other tan what I have said before, the ability to take a whiz in the woods,” the former I Am Cait star tells fans. “I just want to have all the right parts. I am also tired of tucking the damn thing in all the time.”

7am – D/E     UNITED DRAGS PASSENGER OFF OF THE PLANE: United overbooked and then after everyone boarded, they realized they needed to boot 4 passengers to put United employees on.  When no one volunteered, they just picked  names and threw you off.  This guy fought back, they brought police on and dragged this guy down the aisle.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – SARAH WESTWOOD – White House reporter for the Washington Examiner

• Spicer calls reports of White House infighting ‘overblown’
• White House to ‘hold open’ options for future military action in Syria
• White House hints Republicans may not have tax reform plan by August
• White House communications director: ‘There is no Trump doctrine’

8am – B/C  HOME ALONE IN LOUDOUN: 3 kids under 9 years old left home alone in Va.; mother arrested for abuse, child neglect. STERLING, Va. (ABC7) — A mother was arrested after her three kids, all under the age of 9, were found home alone with “minimal food,” according to Loudoun County Police. Santos M. Serrano-Flores, 45, was charged with three counts of felony abuse and neglect of children. Police say she is being held without bond. The incident took place in the 500 block of E. Poplar Road. Police say the children have been placed with Loudoun County Child Protective Services. Police say Serrano-Flores was served with two misdemeanor warrants for domestic assault related to another incident.

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”

• Larry Kudlow: Trump Tax Reform Plan Isn’t Dead. Veteran financial guru and former Ronald Reagan adviser Larry Kudlow warns that savvy investors shouldn’t think President Donald Trump’s tax-reform goal is dead on Capitol Hill just because healthcare reform has been derailed for now.
• White House hints Republicans may not have tax reform plan by August. Republicans in Congress may not have a tax reform plan to put forward before the August recess, White House press secretary Sean Spicer hinted Monday amid reports that the White House had hit a roadblock in discussions over a tax overhaul. “Obviously, that still would be a great opportunity, before they leave for August recess,” Spicer said of when the White House and congressional Republicans might unveil their plan. “But we’re going to make sure we do this right.”
• WH shake-up?  Reports of infighting among high-level staff members in Donald Trump’s White House are “overblown,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday.

8am – E         ‘Daily Show’ comic tapped for White House Correspondents’ Dinner. (CNN) — The White House Correspondents’ Association has tapped “Daily Show” comedian Hasan Minhaj to perform at its ballyhooed annual dinner. President Trump won’t be there, but hundreds of Washington journalists will be. Minhaj, 31, will be the evening’s entertainer — a tightrope that comedians like Jimmy Kimmel, Cecily Strong, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert have tried to walk before. Minhaj is not as well-known as those comedians were when they performed, indicating that the correspondents’ association may have had trouble booking a huge star this year. On the other hand, Minhaj has a chance to raise his profile at the April 29 event. Former Comedy Central host Larry Wilmore received mixed reviews after the dinner last year. He said later that he knew he “lost the room early.” It’s a unique room for a comedian, normally packed with reporters, celebrities and administration officials. But this year’s WHCA dinner will be very different. In keeping with his anti-media messaging, Trump announced in February that he would skip the dinner. Administration officials were instructed to turn down invites, too, in “solidarity” with the president. This means there will be no public roasting of the president on live TV, a big change from past years.