Jonna Spilbor, Susan Ferrechio, Dr. Bob Johnson, Debbie Hines and guest host LT. COL. Tony Shaffer joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Hosts: Larry O’Connor and guest host LT. Col. Tony Shaffer

5am – A/B/C    NSA spying on Israel and Congress 

• Wall Street Journal— NSA intercepts convinced the White House last year thatIsrael was spying on negotiations under way in Europe. Israeli officials later denied targeting U.S. negotiators, saying they had won access to S. positions by spying only on the Iranians. By late 2014, White House officials knew Mr. Netanyahu wanted to block the emerging nuclear deal but didn’t know how. On Jan. 8, John Boehner, then the Republican House Speaker, and incoming Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed on a plan. They would invite Mr. Netanyahu to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress. A day later, Mr. Boehner called Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador, to get Mr. Netanyahu’s agreement. Despite NSA surveillance, Obama administration officials said they were caught off guard when Mr. Boehner announced the invitation on Jan. 21. Soon after, Israel’s lobbying campaign against the deal went into full swing on Capitol Hill, and it didn’t take long for administration and intelligence officials to realize the NSA was sweeping up the content of conversations with lawmakers. The message to the NSA from the White House amounted to: “You decide” what to deliver, a former intelligence official said. NSA rules governing intercepted communications “to, from or about” Americans date back to the Cold War and require obscuring the identities of U.S. individuals and U.S. corporations. An American is identified only as a “U.S. person” in intelligence reports; a U.S. corporation is identified only as a “U.S. organization.” Senior U.S. officials can ask for names if needed to understand the intelligence information.The rules were tightened in the early 1990s to require that intelligence agencies inform congressional committees when a lawmaker’s name was revealed to the executive branch in summaries of intercepted communications. A 2011 NSA directive said direct communications between foreign intelligence targets and members of Congress should be destroyed when they are intercepted. But the NSA director can issue a waiver if he determines the communications contain “significant foreign intelligence.” The NSA has leeway to collect and disseminate intercepted communications involving U.S. lawmakers if, for example, foreign ambassadors send messages to their foreign ministries that recount their private meetings or phone calls with members of Congress, current and former officials said. 

5am – D           INTERVIEW – JONNA SPILBOR —   Attorney at Law 

• What’s next in the Bill Cosby case?
• CNN –The number of his accusers had grown to the size of a choir. And the refrain of the 50-plus women has been virtually the same: He drugged me; he sexually assaulted me – or he tried to. Cosby has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. And his supporters pointed out he never faced criminal charges. 

5am – E           Updates in the 2016 presidential race

• Jeb Bush on Tamir Rice: “The process worked”. CNN – GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, weighing in on the decision not to indict police officers in last year’s shooting of Tamir Rice, said a grand jury has made a decision and that “the process worked.” “If there is a grand jury that looks at all the facts and doesn’t indict maybe there’s reasons for that,” he told reporters after a town hall in Lexington, South Carolina. “I don’t believe that every grand jury is racist.”
• Marco Rubio pulled strings for his coke-dealing brother-in-law. NYPost—While Rubio was majority whip of the Florida House of Representatives, he sent a letter to the Florida Division of Real Estate in 2002, recommending Orlando Cicilia “for licensure without reservation,”according a Washington Post investigation. Rubio failed to mention that Cicilia, a former coke dealer, was married to his sister or was living in the same West Miami home as Rubio’s parents, the report claims. Cicilia was arrested in one of the largest drug cases in Florida history, in 1987. Rubio has shied away from discussing Cicilia’s case in detail. Rubio-affiliated PACs and campaigns have paid Cicilia’s two sons more than $130,000 in the past decade.

6am – A/B/C   Likely 2016 Headlines.

• What are some headlines you’d like to see in 2016? WMAL takes your calls. 

6am – D           X Files Season 10 episode 1 is scheduled to air on January 24 2016

• N4BB – Fox had announced in March 2015, that X files would return to the television in a 6 part mini series. The first episode was previewed at the New York Comic-con on October 10 2015. Now, a 21 minute featurette has been uploaded on YouTube, by Fox, that summarizes what happened previously. It also shows some new characters that’ll be part of the new mini-series. X Files had a good run from 1993 to 2002, consisting of nine seasons where FBI investigators Fox Mulder and Dana Sculley solved mysterious cases. The show emphasis on the unknown, aliens, dark magic and everything science fiction.

6am – E           LT. Col. Tony Shaffer gives the latest on Afghanistan and Syria

• USAToday –Afghanistan’s security situation is so tenuous that the top S. commander there wants to keep as many U.S. troops there as possible through 2016 to boost beleaguered Afghan soldiers and may seek additional American forces to assist them. Army Gen. John Campbell said in an interview with USA TODAY that maintaining the current force of 9,800 U.S. troops to train Afghan forces and conduct counter-terrorism raids is vital, and that the scheduled reduction to 5,500 by Jan. 1, 2017, should be put off as long as possible. “My intent would be to keep as much as I could for as long as I could,” Campbell said by telephone fromKabul. “At some point it becomes physics. I’m going to have to get them out.”

7am – A           INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – Washington Examiner’s Chief Congressional Correspondent 

• How 2015 became a year of compromise in Congress
• NSA spying on Israel and Congress

 7am – B/C       NSA spying on Israel and Congress 

• Wall Street Journal–The NSA has leeway to collect and disseminate intercepted communications involving S. lawmakers if, for example, foreign ambassadors send messages to their foreign ministries that recount their private meetings or phone calls with members of Congress, current and former officials said.
• Will this change the relationship between the Executive branch and Congress? WMAL takes your calls.

7am – D/E       INTERVIEW – Dr. BOB JOHNSON — Executive health coach with the National Integrated Health Associates in DC 

• For those who may overindulge in celebrating New Year’s Eve, Dr. Johnson gives some tips on how to prevent and treat a hangover
• What’s your hangover remedy? WMAL takes your calls.

8am – A            INTERVIEW – DEBBIE HINES – DMV Area Legal Analyst

• A summary of some of the new laws taking effect in the area after the new year 

8am – B           Updates in the 2016 presidential race

• Jeb Bush on Tamir Rice: “The process worked”. CNN – GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, weighing in on the decision not to indict police officers in last year’s shooting of Tamir Rice, said a grand jury has made a decision and that “the process worked.” “If there is a grand jury that looks at all the facts and doesn’t indict maybe there’s reasons for that,” he told reporters after a town hall in Lexington, South Carolina. “I don’t believe that every grand jury is racist.”
• Marco Rubio pulled strings for his coke-dealing brother-in-law. NYPost—While Rubio was majority whip of the Florida House of Representatives, he sent a letter to the Florida Division of Real Estate in 2002, recommending Orlando Cicilia “for licensure without reservation,”according a Washington Post investigation. Rubio failed to mention that Cicilia, a former coke dealer, was married to his sister or was living in the same West Miami home as Rubio’s parents, the report claims. Cicilia was arrested in one of the largest drug cases in Florida history, in 1987. Rubio has shied away from discussing Cicilia’s case in detail. Rubio-affiliated PACs and campaigns have paid Cicilia’s two sons more than $130,000 in the past decade.

8am – C           Entertainment news updates.

• George Lucas criticizes latest Star Wars movie. The Right Schoop.com – While Disney has to be pleased with the way its $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm is turning out, thanks to the galactic success of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the man who created the “Star Wars” universe doesn’t feel the same way. In an interview with Charlie Rose, George Lucas spoke about everything from his and Disney’s branching vision to the deal itself. Lucas, who has always been protective of his series and even refers to them as his “kids,” hasn’t been looking back well on the deal with Disney (via Collider). “I sold them to the white slavers that takes these things, and…,” Lucas said before laughing and deciding it better not to finish.
• Caitlyn Jenner Settles Lawsuit with Driver Involved in Fatal Car Accident. People – Caitlyn Jenner has settled a lawsuit with a woman who was involved in a fatal car accident in February along with the reality star.  Jessica Steindorff was asking for compensatory and punitive damages, and she and Jenner have settled for an undisclosed amount of money, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.  In February, Kim Howe was killed in a multi-vehicle crash after her car was pushed into oncoming traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Officials determined Howe had hit her brakes after a Prius driven by Steindorff stopped in front of her for unknown reasons. Jenner rear-ended Howe, causing her to swerve into oncoming traffic.

8am – D/E       INTERVIEW – RIC EDELMAN – WMAL Financial Adviser

• Tips for advancing financial goals in 2016.
• WMAL takes your calls.