Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski, UVA's Alison Booth, Col. Morris Davis and Larry Kudlow joined WMAL Tuesday morning.
Mornings on the Mall
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor
5am – A/B/C DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW: ROLL CALL WRITER NIELS LESNIEWSKI — analyzed the news of the release of the CIA torture report.
5am – D Lawmaker wants civics exam to be Va. graduation requirement. Virginia would require high school juniors to pass the same civics exam required of hopeful U.S. citizens, if a lawmaker can find support for a bill he has filed for the 2015 General Assembly session. Del. Richard P. “Dickie” Bell, R-Staunton, wants to amend the state code to make a passing score on the test be a requirement for graduation. “It seems like knowing about our government is a good idea,” said Bell, a retired high school teacher. He said student command of civics is “not very pretty” and that getting six out of 10 questions correct is not a reasonable barrier to graduation. “I know there’s a call for less testing, so maybe we could replace the 11th-grade history SOL with this,” he said. “I think knowledge of our government is more important than what happened in the 15th century.”
5am – E Six dead as plane crashes into Gaithersburg neighborhood. GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WJLA) – A small plane crashed into a house in the 19700 block of Drop Forge Lane off Snouffer School Road in Gaithersburg on Monday, killing six people – three people aboard the plane and three local residents on the ground. The two-story, wood-frame home was gutted by the crash impact and ensuing blaze. The first floor was nearly completely blown out and smoke drifted from a gaping hole in what was left of the collapsing roof. Two adjacent homes also had significant damage as the debris and fire spread. "The plane sliced through the roof of one home, and the main part of the fuselage and the tail landed against a second house. One of the wings "catapulted" into a third house, where the majority of the fire damage occurred, Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board said at a news conference. Montgomery County firefighters had the blaze under control within an hour, but it took a few more hours to sweep the homes and find the bodies of a missing mother and her two young children. Authorities said it appeared 36-year-old Marie Gemmell and her two sons, 3-year-old Cole and month-old infant Devon, sought refuge from the fire in a second-floor bathroom after the plane's wing tore into their home. While the official causes of death weren't yet determined, investigators speculated it might be smoke inhalation. Gemmell's husband and their other child, age 5, survived — they weren't home at the time of the crash.
6am – A/B/C DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW — Alison Booth, an English professor at University of Virgina and is a part of The Faculty of Arts and Sciences who have pushed for extending the ban on fraternities
>> University of Virginia urged to end suspension of fraternities. The pressure comes after Rolling Stone magazine backtracks on a story about an alleged rape there.
>>> UVA Faculty Propose Extending Frat Ban Through School Year
6am – D 29% of people think Santa should work for free, and another 29% think he should make $1.8 billion. Huh? Santa should make nearly $140,000 this year, survey says. (USA Today) — How much money do you think Santa deserves for his job? Well, if he were paid a salary, he would make $139,924 this year, according to a survey by Insure.com. The consumer insurance info website showed in its annual Santa Index that the big guy received a 1.5% raise this year, increasing from $137,795 in 2013. Perhaps more interesting is that 29% think Santa should make nothing at all whereas 29% think he should make $1.8 billion. The survey by Insure.com was taken online in September by 895 adults who said Santa visits their homes.
6am – E McConnell says he's 'almost certainly' backing Rand Paul in 2016. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday says he's likely to endorse Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) if he runs for president in 2016. In an interview on CNN’s "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," reporter Dana Bash asked McConnell directly if he'd endorse Paul for the White House. “I'm almost certainly going to be doing that at some point,” McConnell said. It’s the latest sign that the two men have made strides in repairing their relationship since 2010, when McConnell endorsed Paul’s GOP rival in the Senate primary. Paul campaigned heavily for McConnell this year, helping him to defeat Alison Lundergan Grimes to win reelection. “I'm a big fan of his," McConnell said Monday. "I mean we started off on opposite paths, but we've become great allies. … I think he's a very, very smart, capable guy.”
7am – A INTERVIEW: COL. MORRIS DAVIS – Guantanamo chief prosecutor '05-07. 25 year Air Force veteran and Professor at Howard University Law School @ColMorrisDavis – shared his thoughts on the CIA torture report.
7am – B Jonathan Gruber in the hot seat heading into ObamaCare hearing. (Fox News) — One of the architects of ObamaCare is in the hot seat Tuesday as Republicans call him before Congress to explain his controversial statements boasting how the law's authors took advantage of the "stupidity of the American voter." Jonathan Gruber's appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also marks one of Rep. Darrell Issa's last, high-profile shots at the health care law before he hands over his chairmanship next year. Issa, R-Calif. — who has led the committee through controversial probes of the Benghazi attacks, the IRS scandal and more — will lead the questioning of former health adviser Gruber on Tuesday. Gruber, an MIT economist, recently apologized for saying Americans' "stupidity" was vital to passing the health law in 2010.
7am – C Rangers defenseman loses part of ear, plays on, scores winner in OT. (AP) — NEW YORK — Kevin Klein lost part of his ear in the first period, then found the back of the net in overtime to give the New York Rangers a stirring victory. Klein, known more for his defense, has discovered his offensive game this season. The defenseman has scored a career-best six goals and has a career-high three game-winners — including two in overtime. "It might have hit their D-man in front. I was just trying to get it by," Klein said of his slap shot. "When it went in, I was pretty happy." Klein's first goal of the season was also in overtime in a 4-3 win on Oct. 21 at New Jersey. He then netted the winner on Nov. 19 against Philadelphia. This one was even more dramatic because early in the game, Klein was bloodied by a high stick from Pittsburgh's Zach Sill that ripped off part of his ear. That was reattached, and Klein resumed his role on the ice and scored for the second straight game. "I am getting a lot of heat because I'm not using him on the power play," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said with a smile. "That is the second time he has come up real big for us in overtime.
7am – D Will and Kate meet Jay Z and Beyonce at NBA game. USA TODAY —The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were at Barclays Center for the Brooklyn Nets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game to celebrate new community partnership between Royal Foundation and NBA. They also shook hands with Jay Z and Beyonce on the court. NEW YORK — No one impresses cynical New York. Except maybe Will and Kate. The royal dynamic duo, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, linked up again in the Big Apple Monday evening, partying with Hillary Clinton before heading to an NBA game in Brooklyn, where they finally shook hands with another kind of royalty — Jay Z and Beyoncé. Will and Kate took their courtside seats with 7:14 left in the third quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Brooklyn Nets. As they were about to enter the arena, there was commotion in one of the tunnels leading to the court, and a majority of fans stood up to see them. Between the third and fourth quarters, Jay Z and Beyoncé walked to Will and Kate and shook hands.
7am – E Addams Family actor Ken Weatherwax dies aged 59. Ken Weatherwax, who played Pugsley in the original Addams Family, has died at the age of 59. The actor suffered a heart attack and was found at his home in California on Sunday. Pugsley was the oldest child of Gomez and Morticia Addams in the 1960s TV series. The show featured a family of macabre oddballs who believed they were normal, and was famed for its catchy finger-snapping theme song. The dysfunctional family were first created by cartoonist Charles Addams in the New Yorker magazine. The characters were made into a TV show, which aired on ABC from 1964 to 1966, had a total of 64 episodes. Weatherwax, who also voiced the role of Pugsley in an animated version of the series in the 1970s, played Pugsley senior in a TV special Halloween With the New Addams Family in 1977..
Inventor Ralph Baer, The 'Father Of Video Games,' Dies At 92. Ralph H. Baer, the man widely acknowledged as the "father of home video games" for his pioneering work in electronics and television engineering, died on Saturday at his home in Manchester, N.H. He was 92. Video games have become a ubiquitous, billion-dollar industry that has in recent years surpassed the movie business. Titles in the Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty franchises often sell millions of copies within days of release. But all of that — as well as the Playstations, the Xboxes and the Wiis – can be traced back to Baer's work and his "Brown Box." As the New York Times describes it, it was a sultry summer day in 1966 when Baer — who was working as an engineer for defense contractor Sanders Associates, now part of BAE Systems — scribbled out a four-page description for "game box" that would allow people to play action, sports and other games on a television set. One Sanders executive saw potential in Baer's idea and gave him $2,500 and two engineers to work on the project. Over the years they churned out seven prototypes in a secret workshop, before landing on a version that Baer and Sanders would use to file the first video game patent in 1971.
8am – A/B TIME Unveils Finalists for 2014 Person of the Year. Eight contenders are on the shortlist ahead of Wednesday's announcement. Here are the eight still in the final running, in no particular order:
The Ferguson protesters, who took to the streets in August following the fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer, and again in November when a grand jury declined to indict the officer in the killing.
The Ebola caregivers, who are still fighting the biggest Ebola outbreak in history, that has so far taken the lives of nearly 7,000 people in West Africa.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who has remained in the headlines throughout this year, from his country’s stewardship of the Winter Olympics in Sochi to its annexation of Crimea, and its role in the ongoing civil strife in eastern Ukraine.
Taylor Swift, one of the world’s top-selling pop artists, who this year shook up the music industry by pulling her music from streaming service Spotify, which she believes should compensate artists more.
Jack Ma, an English teacher turned founder and CEO of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant which debuted a $25 billion IPO.
Tim Cook, who introduced Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple Watch, and Apple Pay this year, and whose decision to come out made him the first openly gay Fortune 500 CEO.
Masoud Barzani, the acting president of the Iraqi Kurdish Region since 2005, who has deftly threaded the region’s push for independence with the ongoing fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria.
Roger Goodell, the National Football League commissioner whose leadership has been under great scrutiny this year as the league dealt with public incidents of domestic abuse by players such as Ray Rice, among other controversies.
8am –C Six dead as plane crashes into Gaithersburg neighborhood.
8am – D INTERVIEW — LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm
>> Kudlow thinks Obama lost his mind in the BET interview
>> Jonathan Gruber in the hot seat heading into ObamaCare hearing. One of the architects of ObamaCare is in the hot seat Tuesday as Republicans call him before Congress to explain his controversial statements boasting how the law's authors took advantage of the "stupidity of the American voter." Jonathan Gruber's appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also marks one of Rep. Darrell Issa's last, high-profile shots at the health care law before he hands over his chairmanship next year. Issa, R-Calif. — who has led the committee through controversial probes of the Benghazi attacks, the IRS scandal and more — will lead the questioning of former health adviser Gruber on Tuesday. Gruber, an MIT economist, recently apologized for saying Americans' "stupidity" was vital to passing the health law in 2010.
>> China Overtakes the U.S. as World’s Largest Economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently released the latest results for the world economy. And when you measure national economic output in “real” terms of goods and services, China will this year produce $17.6 trillion – compared with $17.4 trillion for the U.S., Market Watch reports. The U.S. had the world’s highest economy since 1872. /in 2000, the U.S.A. produced nearly three times as much as the Chinese. China now accounts for 16.5% of the global economy when measured in real purchasing-power terms, compared with 16.3% for the U.S. China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per-person is still less than one-quarter that of the U.S., so China is still far from being the world’s wealthiest nation.The IMF made the calculations by measuring purchasing-power parity (PPP). Similar goods cost the same in both Shanghai and New York, as far as PPP is concerned.
TOMORROW: KT McFarland
