Washington City Paper's Will Sommer, KT McFarland, Jake Tapper, Geraldo Rivera, Weather Channel's Ray Stagich, VDOT's Jenni McCord and MDSHA's Lora Rakowski joined WMAL on Wednesday.
INTERVIEW — GERALDO RIVERA – Radio host, Fox News host and currently on this season's Celebrity Apprentice
INTERVIEW — JAKE TAPPER – Chief Washington Correspondent and anchor of the CNN weekday television news show The Lead with Jake Tapper — discussed the controversy over the Obama administration's handling of the Paris march.
INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst
INTERVIEW — WILL SOMMER – Loose Lips columnist at Washington City Paper
Mornings on the Mall
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor
5am – A/B/C DC Metro Passengers Outraged at Slow Rescue Response. Bowser orders D.C. Fire review after fatal Metro incident. WASHINGTON – D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered a review of the fire department’s response to the smoke-filled train and L’Enfant Plaza Station. In addition to the federal review, Bowser says she wants to know when the calls for help came, what location was given, when firefighters arrived and when did they have safe access to the tracks. She hopes to have a full report by early next week. Bowser says she also wants more information about whether firefighters were able to use their radios underground after reports of communication problems. Metro has said that a box alarm triggered at 3:20 p.m. after smoke filled the station and tunnel. But Bowser wants to know just how many people called for help and when they called. Hundreds of passengers poured out of the station as it was evacuated but passengers on a stalled Yellow Line train waited for 20 to 45 minutes before firefighters arrived to help lead them off the train, down the tunnel and up a set of stairs to safety above ground.
5am – D INTERVIEW – RAY STAGICH – Meteorologist – The Weather Channel
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO NOON
Today | Light snow, some sleet this morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 34F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 80%.
Tonight | Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Low near 30F. Winds light and variable.
Tomorrow | Sunshine along with some cloudy intervals. High 42F. Winds light and variable.
5am – E Black lab figured out how to get to the dog park via bus weekly. SEATTLE (CNN/KOMO) — Public transit in Seattle has gone to the dogs. Commuters in Belltown report seeing a Black Labrador riding the bus alone in recent weeks. The 2-year old has been spotted roaming the aisles, hopping onto seats next to strangers, and even doing her part to clean the bus — by licking her surroundings. "All the bus drivers know her. She sits here just like a person does," said commuter Tiona Rainwater, as she rode the bus through downtown Monday. "She makes everybody happy. How could you not love this thing?" When the dog got off the bus – without an owner – at a dog park last week, it piqued the curiosity of local radio host Miles Montgomery.
6am – A Roads Update:
- INTERVIEW – JENNI MCCORD – VDOT spokesperson
SNOW & ICE WILL IMPACT BOTH RUSH HOURS TOMORROW. Crews are preparing, drivers need to plan for commute. FAIRFAX—The Virginia Department of Transportation is asking drivers to prepare for a day-long storm tomorrow that could make driving hazardous in northern Virginia. Drivers are asked to monitor weather forecasts today, and consider teleworking or delaying travel tomorrow. Drivers are also asked to plan for a longer than normal commute, with snow predicted in the morning and hazardous sleet and freezing rain beginning in the afternoon. By 4 a.m. Wednesday, about 700 trucks will be staged throughout Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William and Arlington counties to treat roads. Additional trucks may be added to handle sleet and snow during the afternoon commute.
- INTERVIEW – LORA RAKOWSKI – MD State Highway
ANOTHER WINTRY MIX EXPECTED FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING COMMUTE. Potentially Difficult Driving Conditions – Delay Early Travel if at all Possible. (January 13, 2015) – For the second time this week, winter weather threatens road travel during the morning hours. The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) urges motorists to closely monitor weather forecasts later today and tonight as meteorologists call for the possibility of snow and freezing rain during tomorrow morning’s commute. If you can’t delay your travel, remember to take it slow on ice and snow.
6am – B Priebus set to win historic 3rd consecutive term as RNC chair under Democratic president. (The Washington Times) — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is poised to make history. If balloting goes as veteran vote counters expect at the RNC’s annual winter meeting in San Diego on Friday, he will win re-election. That will make him the first to lead his party’s national governing body for three consecutive terms while Democrats hold the White House. A former Wisconsin Republican Party chairman, Mr. Priebus has managed to maintain generally warm acceptance by the 168-member RNC’s growing conservative wing as well as by its moderates, who have close ties with the GOP establishment. Mr. Priebus first won election as RNC boss in January 2011, two years after Barack Obama took the oath of office for president. Mr. Priebus defeated RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele, who was seeking a second term that year.
Rand Paul on Romney: "If He Runs To The Right Of Jeb Bush, He'll Still Be To The Left Of The Party," "Yesterday's News"
RAND PAUL: If he runs to the right of Jeb Bush, he'll still be to the left of the rest of the party. So it may be a difficult spot to occupy. Look, I liked Governor Romney. I like him personally. I think he's a good person. I think he's a great businessman, but, you know, that's yesterday's news. He's tried twice. I don't really think that there is a third time out there. I think he did a lot of things right, but in the end you have to have a bigger constituency, you have to get new people, you've got to attract new people to win and I think it's just time that probably the party's going to be looking for something fresh and new. (The John Gibson Show, January 13, 2014)
6am – C Hotel helps guests live out ‘Fifty Shades’ fantasies. (NY Post) – Ever dream of re-creating Christian Grey and Ana Steele’s steamy tryst in the Red Room of Pain? Now you can — kind of. With the release of “Fifty Shades of Grey” a month away, the San Francisco-based group Personality Hotels is offering guests the chance to bring their BDSM fantasies to life with a “50 Shades of Women . . . Come Again” package. For $150 — tacked onto the regular hotel rate — guests staying at the Hotel Diva, Hotel Union Square or Kensington Park Hotel can buy a box chock-full of toys that would surely tickle Christian’s fancy. The treasure trove of sex goodies includes a Lilly Fringe Whip (featuring soft tassels to “caress or punish”), “Feel Me Bondaids” faux-fur handcuffs and a Minna Limon Vibrator, which works by increasing vibrations the harder you squeeze the toy.
6am – D/E Grasso calls people who seek government assistance 'freeloaders' (Capital Gazette) — Anne Arundel councilman stands by statement that he has no sympathy for affordable housing projects. County Councilman John Grasso said he stands by his comments at the council’s Monday meeting where he said people who can’t afford it should not live in Anne Arundel County — and that he’s heard from several people who agree with him. The Glen Burnie Republican told The Capital during an hourlong telephone conversation Thursday he believes those seeking government assistance are “freeloaders.” He said that includes people who seek help who have kids while not on sound financial footing. “Who told them to have children?” Grasso said. People “use children as a crutch to describe laziness.” In a follow-up text message, Grasso added: “I stand behind what I say.” “Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan (and) every one of those folks should learn that,” Grasso wrote.
7am – A INTERVIEW — WILL SOMMER – Loose Lips columnist at Washington City Paper
- Bowser's first challenges in office: Snow issues, DC streetcar car crashes and fatal Metro incident
- Bowser orders D.C. Fire review after fatal Metro incident
- DC's marijuana push: D.C. challenges Congress to halt marijuana legalization in nation’s capital
7am – B Jimmy Carter: It’s understandable that Obama skipped Paris rally because he’d just come back from vacation: Former President Jimmy Carter defended Barack Obama for skipping Sunday’s anti-terrorism march in Paris because he’d “just come back from vacation.” “I know that President Obama’s just come back from vacation, and I know how it is when you’ve been gone for a week or two,” Carter told Katie Couric in an interview with Yahoo News. “Your desk is piled up, and he had other pressing problems to address. So I don’t think there’s any reflection on our country or no criticism is worthy.” Carter was interviewed Monday, shortly before the White House itself admitted that it should have sent a higher-ranking official to Paris. Millions of people marched, including dozens of world leaders, after last week’s terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher grocery store. The U.S. was represented by the American ambassador to France.
Carter Blames Israel for Charlie Hebdo Massacre: "Well, one of the origins for it is the Palestinian problem." Appearing on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, Carter was asked by host Jon Stewart about the influence of radical Islam on the attackers. His answer was inexplicable: "Well, one of the origins for it is the Palestinian problem. And this aggravates people who are affiliated in any way with the Arab people who live in the West Bank and Gaza, what they are doing now — what’s being done to them. So I think that’s part of it."
7am – C Frosty fatwa: Saudi cleric bans snowmen. Do you want to build a snowman? You'd love to? Well, that's too bad — at least according to Saudi Arabia's Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid, a prominent cleric. With snow covering the highland areas of Tabuk province in Saudi Arabia, there's not much else to do with the fluffy white stuff other than build snowmen and snow camels. But with photos of snowpeople and snow camels popping up everywhere, Munajjid made it clear that Islamic teachings strictly prohibit the practice. Asked whether the unusually snowy winter in Saudi Arabia meant that parents could build snowmen with their children, Munajjid delivered the bad news. "It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun," Munajjid wrote on his Web site, according to Reuters. He also pointed out that making images of humans and animals — anything with a "soul" — is strictly off-limits.
7am – D INTERVIEW – KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst
- Josh Earnest Says the White House Doesn’t Call Terror Attacks ‘Radical Islam’ Because It’s Not ‘Accurate’.
- Jimmy Carter: It’s understandable that Obama skipped Paris rally because he’d just come back from vacation
7am – E Morrissey wins re-election to Virginia House in midst of six-month jail term. (Washington Post) — Joseph D. Morrissey, running as an independent, was re-elected to the Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday, according to preliminary vote counts. His victory opens another chapter in a made-for-TV-movie-style drama likely to captivate the General Assembly session starting Wednesday. Voters were apparently unmoved by Morrissey’s conviction last month on a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor stemming from his relationship with a 17-year-old receptionist at his law office. But fellow lawmakers may start proceedings to eject him from the House of Delegates as early as Wednesday, when he is scheduled to be sworn in. After entering his guilty plea last month, Morrissey was sentenced to six months in jail. He was accepted into the work-release program, allowing him to leave jail for up to 12 hours a day for campaign activity or to work at his law practice. The work-release program also reduces Morrissey’s sentence to 90 days.
Statement of House Speaker William J. Howell on the results of the 74th district special election. RICHMOND, VA – Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) issued the following statement on the results of tonight's special election in Virginia's 74th House of Delegates district: "Mr. Morrissey's election tonight does not change the fact that his actions fall grievously short of the standards of a public servant in the House of Delegates. As Speaker, I have an obligation to faithfully and impartially discharge my duties as presiding officer and a responsibility to protect the honor and integrity of the House of Delegates as an institution. There are a number of options available to the body to address questions of conduct regarding its members. These options are set out in the Constitution of Virginia and the rules of the House. Working with House Minority Leader David Toscano and other members of the House, we will begin the process of assessing these options in order to determine the appropriate path forward."
8am – A INTERVIEW — JAKE TAPPER – Chief Washington Correspondent and anchor of the CNN weekday television news show The Lead with Jake Tapper — discussed the controversy over the Obama administration's handling of the Paris march.
8am – B Huckabee slams Obama for letting daughters listen to Beyoncé. DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has accused President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, of double standards in parenting, saying in an interview published Tuesday that the first family shelters its daughters from some things but allows them to listen to the music of Beyoncé. The sharp rhetoric signals that, should he run for the Republican presidential nomination, Huckabee would make cultural and social issues the cornerstones of his campaign. While promoting his new book, the former Baptist pastor told People magazine, "I don't understand how on one hand they can be such doting parents and so careful about the intake of everything — how much broccoli they eat and where they go to school … and yet they don't see anything that might not be suitable" in Beyoncé's lyrics. He also said Beyoncé's choreography is "best left for the privacy of her bedroom." In his book, Huckabee describes the Grammy Award-winning Beyoncé's lyrics as "obnoxious and toxic mental poison." He also accuses Beyoncé's husband, rapper Jay-Z, of "exploiting his wife" like a "pimp."
8am – C Bartender Accused Of Plotting To Poison John Boehner. (Huffington Post) — An Ohio man has been indicted for allegedly threatening to kill House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), WCPO and the Associated Press report. The man, Michael Robert Hoyt, served Boehner drinks at the Wetherington Golf & Country Club in West Chester, Ohio for more than five years, but was fired in October, according to WCPO. According to the criminal complaint, Hoyt allegedly called police in late October and told them to tell his father that he was sorry. The call prompted police to visit Hoyt's home, where he allegedly told an officer that he was Jesus Christ and was going to kill Boehner because he was responsible for Ebola and had mistreated him. Hoyt reportedly told police that he wished he had time to put something in Boehner's drink and that he had a loaded gun in his home. Police took control of the weapon in his home, and Hoyt reportedly agreed to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
8am – D INTERVIEW — GERALDO RIVERA – Radio host, and on this season's Celebrity Apprentice
- Geraldo Rivera takes it off on 'The Celebrity Apprentice'
TOMORROW: Stuart Varney
