Sidney Powell, Washington Lee High Alumni and Susan Ferrechio joined WMAL on Tuesday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C ‘Adulting Day’ teaches local high school seniors how to cook, change a tire, pay bills. ‘Adulting Day’ teaches Bullitt Central seniors lessons for grown-ups. SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY (WAVE) – Maybe you’ve seen the social media post asking, “what do high schoolers need to know before they enter the real world?” At Bullitt Central High School, the seniors had time to spend on those topics on an Adulting Day event Wednesday. Most days students are learning Algebra, Spanish, chemistry and other topics where they receive a grade. Seniors in the class of 2019, however, received one-on-ones with people from the community – teaching things like dorm-room cooking, changing a tire, credit cards and financing. It was an event Christy Hardin, director of the BCHS Family Resource & Youth Services Center, organized for the students. “I think that the idea occurred to me originally, I saw a Facebook post that parents passed around saying they needed a class in high school on taxes, and cooking,” Hardin said. “Our kids can get that, but they have to choose it. And (Wednesday) was a day they could pick and choose pieces they didn’t feel like they had gotten so far.” Police talked about interacting with officers during traffic stops. Another speaker talked about when to know if homesickness is really homesickness, or a sign of something else.

5am – D         Amazon Denies Warehouse Workers’ Request For Air Conditioning As “Robots Can’t Work In Cold Weather.” A Gizmodo story about the protest in Minnesota included an interesting detail about another demonstration at a facility in Staten Island. Workers at the Amazon facility in Staten Island who recently announced their intention to unionize complained about the company’s refusal to install air-conditioning in its sweltering facility. The reason given by Amazon for refusing to provide the air conditioning? The robots in its facility can’t function optimally in cold weather. MSP1 is a fairly new and heavily-roboticized factory, much like the facility on Staten Island, New York, where workers recently announced their intention to unionize with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). One worker at the Staten Island facility, in a protest outside New York’s City Hall last week, expressed concern over long shifts, non-functioning smoke detectors and sprinkler systems, and inhumane temperatures. “We have asked the company to provide air conditioning,” she explained to the crowd, “but they told us that the robots inside can’t work in the cold weather.” One worker who was leaving work during the demonstration in Minnesota, which involved some 250 workers and labor activists, told Gizmodo that he felt “utterly expendable” and offered a comment that sounded like a line of dialogue ripped straight from Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.”

5am – E         STATUE OF LIBERTY CLIMBER:

• Woman who climbed Statue of Liberty convicted, said she had nightmares about kids in cages. NEW YORK — A woman who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4 to protest the separation of families at the Mexican border has been convicted of misdemeanor charges. Therese Okoumou got choked up as she testified Monday before a federal magistrate judge at her trial. She said images from the border gave her nightmares. Judge Gabriel Gorenstein announced the verdict a short time later. The prosecutor says Okoumou endangered herself, rescuers and thousands of Liberty Island visitors when she climbed to the feet of the statue. Authorities evacuated the island. Okoumou testified that she couldn’t live with the sight of “children in cages” without bringing the issue to a wider audience.
• ANOTHER AVENATTI CLIENT LOSES: Therese “Patricia” Okoumou was charged with trespassing, interfering with agency functions and disorderly conduct following the event on July 4, to which she pleaded not guilty. Okoumou faces up to 18 months in prison.

6am – A/B/C             BORDER WALL FUNDING FIGHT:

• President Trump began Monday morning with a tweet saying any Democrat who says the S. can have border security without a wall is following the party line. While the President insists on Congress providing $5 billion for a border wall to head off a Friday government shutdown, Republican leaders want White House guidance on what would be acceptable to avert the government closing its doors a few days before the holidays. As of now, President Trump continues to demand his requested amount for the border wall.
• GRANDFATHER OF GUATEMALAN GIRL WHO DIED SAYS FAMILIES OWES DEBT TO SMUGGLERS: The family in Guatemala remains hopeful that the father of seven-year-old Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin will be allowed to stay in the U.S. where he could find work and pay off a sizable debt that the family owes to a human smuggling organization in their home country, Telemundo reported.

6am – D         INTERVIEW — SIDNEY POWELL – a former federal prosecutor and veteran of 500 federal appeals, is the author of “LICENSED TO LIE: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice.” She is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research.

• POWELL: New Facts Indicate Mueller Destroyed Evidence, Obstructed Justice
• Mueller Releases 302 Forms From Michael Flynn’s FBI Interview After Being Ordered To By Judge

6am – E         THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD’S SPIDERS COULD EAT US IN JUST ONE YEAR: Humans beware: if the world’s present population of spiders ever get organized, they could eat us all in just 12 months. That means that spiders eat at least as much meat as all seven billion humans on the planet combined, who the authors note consume about 400 million tonnes of meat and fish each year.

6am – F         J&J shares extend losses; company defends Baby Powder as safe. J&J Slammed by Concern Over Baby Powder Safety.  Johnson & Johnson CEO: ‘We unequivocally believe’ our baby powder does not contain asbestos. Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky addresses reports of his company knowing that its talc-based baby powder contained traces of asbestos in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer. He cites studies from independent bodies that he says found “no causation between talc, baby powder and ovarian cancer or any type of asbestos-related disease.” The Reuters report, which said that Johnson & Johnson executives and other affiliated parties were aware from the 1970s to the 2000s that the company’s talc materials sometimes tested positive for asbestos, was matched by the New York Times.

7am – A         WASHINGTON-LEE HIGH PARENTS AND ALUMNI RESPOND TO NAME CHANGE:

• INTERVIEW — DEAN FLEMING – VP of the Washington Lee Alumni Association
• INTERVIEW — JENNIFER LAM – parent whose daughter goes to Washington Lee High School
• INTERVIEW — TONI DELANCEY – is a parent of 4 children in Arlington Public Schools and member of the Arlington She opposes the school board’s decision to rename Washington-Lee High School and encourages people to go to the court hearing on Wednesday.
• COURT HEARING ON WEDNESDAY: A hearing – December 19 at 10am. Arlington Civil Court, 1425 N Courthouse Rd, Suite 2400, 2nd Floor Arlington, VA 22201
• SCHOOL BOARD MEETING ON THURSDAY: A School Board meeting December 20 at 6:30 pm at the Syphax bldg (here community members will speak out about their lack of support for the name change) 2110 Washington Blvd, 2nd Floor, Arlington VA 22204
• Washington-Lee HS in Virginia may soon be renamed Washington-Loving despite lawsuit. (WUSA9) — Just as a lawsuit over the matter heads to court, members of a committee charged with choosing a new name are speaking out saying that the process up to now was a sham. ARLINGTON, Va. — The fight over changing the name of Washington-Lee High School is picking up steam. Just as a lawsuit over the matter heads to court, members of a committee charged with choosing a new name are speaking out saying that the process up to now was a sham. “The process was very unfair,” said Julie Crull, an alum of Washington-Lee High School, named after two generals, George Washington and Robert E. Lee. The Arlington County School Board voted last summer to ditch the name Robert E. Lee because he led the Confederacy in its fight to keep slavery legal. A lawsuit by two students and alums who want to keep the name heads to court this Wednesday. Despite the lawsuit, the name change appears to be moving forward. On Thursday, the renaming committee will present its recommendations to the Arlington School Board. The two recommendations are Washington- Loving and as a backup, Washington-Liberty. The Arlington School Board is scheduled to officially chose the new name for Washington-Lee High School on January 10th.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – PATRICE KELLY – a mother who was on the RENAMING COMMITTEE and quit after realizing that the leadership of the committee didn’t actually care to hear what the community wanted.

7am – D/E     SANCTIMONIOUS COMEY ON HILL: Former FBI Chief James Comey returned to a closed door session with Republican members of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees and came out saying the GOP’s refusal to stand up to President Trump is “an everlasting shame.” Comey says the President is “lying about the FBI” and is attacking the “rule of law” in the United States. He says it’s time for Republicans to no longer be silent about the President’s actions.

 

8am – A         Washington Post: Parents Trying To Raise Their Kids In ‘Relatively Gender-Neutral Ways’ Discover Nature Taking Over. The Washington Post published an interesting story today about a family living in Raleigh, North Carolina. Brian Campbell and Bonnie Melton married in 2008 and now have three kids, two girls and a boy named Eliot who is now 8-years-old. Brian Campbell grew up with a father who expected him to play sports and pursue a high-earning career like engineering. Brian did play football but eventually told his father he wanted to study art instead of engineering. At the time, his father was furious about that, but now that Brian is a successful animator at a video game company that family drama appears to be resolved. Still, both Brian and Bonnie wanted to approach parenting a little differently than their parents’ generation had, making an concerted effort to let their kids grow up without feeling a lot of cultural pressure related to gender. And yet, despite their efforts, it seems to them that nature took over

8am – B         Kentucky radio station plays ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ on repeat for 2 hours straight. A radio station in Kentucky played “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” for two straight hours on repeat Sunday morning as controversy swirls around the 1940s classic. The two-hour marathon session played five different versions of the song. Radio station WAKY in Elizabethtown decided to play the tune, announcing on Facebook, “We’re not afraid to play it.” “I’m not sure why it’s controversial,” Joe Fredele, director of programming for the station, told local CBS News outlet WLKY. “We’ve played this song for years, you know, this song is older than WAKY is. It’s almost 70 years old.” The Christmas song made headlines and sparked controversy earlier this year when a radio station in Ohio removed the holiday hit from its lineup after a listener expressed concerns over the lyrics.The song has raised the issue of consent with lyrics that have a man trying to convince a woman not to leave his home as she openly ponders whether to stay.

8am – C         Fresh Prince star sues Fortnite maker over ‘Carlton Dance.’ Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro is suing the makers of video game Fortnite for using his “Carlton Dance”.  The actor argues that his famous dance to Tom Jones song It’s Not Unusual has been unfairly copied by the game. His character Carlton Banks performed the moves frequently in the 1990s sitcom, which also starred Will Smith.  Fortnite offers users signature moves, known as “emotes” for their avatars to use on the battlefield during the popular game. It launched the “Fresh” emote, which involves the character doing an enthusiastic dance by swaying his arms from side to side, earlier this year.  Mr Ribeiro has often performed the dance since he debuted it on the show in 1991, including incorporating it into a performance on US Strictly Come Dancing equivalent Dancing With The Stars.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner – discussed the latest on shutdown fight, Comey visit to Capitol Hill and criminal justice reform.

8am – E         Ocasio-Cortez takes time off for ‘self-care,’ laments loss of yoga sessions due to politics. (Fox News) — Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t yet started her new job, but she’s already taking a break. The Democratic Socialist said Monday that she’s taking time a week off for “self-care” after feeling burned out and lamented that her political activity changed her lifestyle.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @Ocasio2018:  I’m taking a few days to take care of myself before what is sure to be an eventful term.

For working people, immigrants, & the poor, self-care is political – not because we want it to be, but bc of the inevitable shaming of someone doing a face mask while financially stressed. “I am starting a week of self-care where I am taking the week off and taking care of me. I don’t know how to do that though, so I would appreciate any and all self-care tips,” she said in an Instagram video. “For working people, immigrants, & the poor, self-care is political — not because we want it to be, but bc of the inevitable shaming of someone doing a face mask while financially stressed. So I’ve decided to take others along with me on IG as I learn what self-care even means and why it’s important,” she added on Twitter. Ocasio-Cortez, who unseated powerful New York Democrat Joe Crowley earlier this year during the primary election and easily cruised to victory in general election as she had no real opposition, went on to say that since her entry into politics and activism, she had to give up her more comfortable lifestyle. “Before the campaign, I used to practice yoga 3-4x/week, eat nutritiously, read and write for leisure,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Instagram. “As soon as everything kicked up, that all went out the window. I went from doing yoga and making wild rice and salmon dinners to eating fast food for dinner and falling asleep in my jeans and makeup.”