Cato Institute’s Dan Mitchell, Tucker Carlson and Fox’s Catherine Herridge joined WMAL on Thursday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C  Obama’s Tango Diplomacy – Was It Appropriate? Tone Deaf After a Terror Attack?

5am – D         Religious Wars:

• Pepsi, Visa, and Chevron are Exempt From HHS Mandate, But Little Sisters of the Poor are Not. The Obama administration has been unrelenting in its fight to force a group of Catholic nuns to violate their beliefs and pay for abortion-causing drugs and contraception, arguing that they are essential health care services. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard an appeal from the Little Sisters of the Poor and 37 other religious groups to stop the Obama administration from forcing them to comply with Obamacare’s abortion mandate. The mandate compels religious groups to pay for birth control, drugs that may cause abortions and sterilization. Without relief, the Little Sisters would face millions of dollars in IRS fines. While arguing publicly that religious groups should be forced to comply with the HHS Mandate, the Obama administration quietly exempted several major companies from those same rules. Lawyers for the religious groups used this point to argue against the federal government’s overarching mandate on Wednesday.
• Disney, Marvel, AMC May Boycott Production in Georgia Over Anti-Gay Bill. Disney’s films and The Walking Dead threaten to pull production. Disney and Marvel aren’t happy with the state of Georgia over the possible passage of a religious-liberty bill. According to Vanity Fair, the companies see the bill — known as HB 757 — as anti-gay, since it allows faith-based organizations to avoid accepting consumers or employing people who violate their beliefs. In addition, religious officials could deny overseeing same-sex marriages. As such, Disney and Marvel are threatening to not shoot any more films in Georgia, after filming Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War and their current production, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in the state. Ant-Man alone reportedly spent over $100 million in the southern state. “Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” a Disney spokesperson said.
• C. Gov Pat McCrory signs into law bill restricting LGBT protections. RALEIGH – The N.C. General Assembly on Wednesday approved a bill that invalidates Charlotte’s new legal protections for LGBT individuals, doing far more than striking down a controversial provision that allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify. Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law hours later. The vote in the House was 84-25 after three hours of debate, with all Republicans voting for it and 11 Democrats breaking ranks with their party to support the bill. In the Senate, the vote was 32-0 after the Democrats walked out in protest, saying they had not been allowed to participate in the process. “We witnessed an affront to democracy,” said Democratic Sen. Dan Blue of Raleigh, the minority leader. “We will not be silent.” Last year in Indiana, there was a nationwide uproar over a “Religious Freedom” law that critics said would make it easy for businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians. Critics of the North Carolina bill, which passed in a one-day special session, said it was perhaps the most “anti-LGBT legislation” in the nation.

5am – E         Should Washington D.C. Have A Vote In Congress? Donald Trump Is OK With It. Trump opposes D.C. statehood, but says “representation would be okay.” (Huffington Post) — The issue of statehood and voting representation for the District of Columbia seeped into the 2016 presidential race this week, when Republican candidate Donald Trump said he wouldn’t mind allowing D.C. to have a vote in the House of Representatives.  “I think that’s something that would be okay,” Trump told the Washington Post Editorial Board in an interview. “Having representation would be okay. The business mogul stopped short of approving statehood for D.C., which would give the district two senators and control over its own laws and locally raised taxpayer funds. “I think statehood is a tough thing for D.C.,” Trump said. “It’s just something that I don’t think I’d be inclined to do.”

6am – A/B/C Ryan slams ‘ugliness’ in politics amid Trump-driven chaos. WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday decried ugliness and divisiveness in American politics, delivering a veiled but passionate rebuke to GOP front-runner Donald Trump and the nasty tone of the presidential race. “When passions flare, ugliness is sometimes inevitable. But we shouldn’t accept ugliness as the norm,” Ryan told an invited audience of congressional interns on Capitol Hill. “If someone has a bad idea, we tell them why our idea is better. We don’t insult them into agreeing with us,” he said. “We don’t resort to scaring you, we dare to inspire you.” The Wisconsin Republican never mentioned Trump’s name or that of any other candidate, Republican or Democratic. But his targets were clear in a sometimes frightful campaign season that’s featured insults, sucker punches and near-riots as often as substantive policy debates. “We are slipping into being a divisive country,” he said. “If we’re going to keep this beautiful American experiment going we’re going to have to stay unified.” Some of Ryan’s comments nearly echoed remarks last week from President Barack Obama, who voiced dismay at the violence and “vulgar and divisive rhetoric” of this presidential race, and issued a plea for civility.

6am – D         Cherry Blossom Season: DC Tourist Tips! National Park Service says official Cherry Blossom peak day is Thursday, March 24. WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The National Park Service tells ABC7 the official peak bloom for the cherry blossoms is likely to happen sometime on Thursday. Peak bloom occurs when 70 percent of the Yoshino variety of the cherry trees are in bloom. Many of the trees blossom-lovers are used to seeing along the Tidal Basin are Yoshino cherry trees.

6am – E         The Scaffolding On The Capitol Dome Is Finally Coming Down. (DCist) — Workers restoring the dome at the U.S. Capitol have broken out the paint—1,215 gallons of it to be exact. Starting at the top, with the base of the Statue of Freedom, they have been carefully layering on three coats. Now, with repainting done at the top—and the final coat of “Dome White” gleaming in the spring sunlight—the scaffolding is making its way down. The metal frame has been a fixture on the Capitol for the past two years, almost as if the national icon got itself a very full set of braces in 2014. But the Cupola level will be free of its cage by the end of the month as workers make their way down the dome to continue painting, according to a spokesman for the Architect of the Capitol. The scaffolding at the very top of the dome came down at the end of last year. The painting work follows three earlier restoration phases: the removal of pounds of lead paint—14 layers of it—and hundreds of ornaments that needed to be fixed or replaced; priming the cast iron to prevent rapid rusting; and fixing more than 1,000 cracks using a painstaking method done by hand. The rest of the project, which also includes interior work will be finished before the inauguration next year.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – DAN MITCHELL – Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

• Dan Mitchell is a libertarian economist, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is a proponent of the flat tax and tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty.
• DC mayor is now considering raising minimum wage to $15/hour.

7am – B         Entertainment News:

• Early ‘Batman v Superman’ Reviews: What the Critics Are Saying. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is facing a rocky start ahead of its Friday release. The tentpole has met with lukewarm reviews and holds a bleak Rotten Tomatoes percentage (which continues to change as more reviews roll in). The last installments fared far better for these caped crusaders, with “Man of Steel” holding a 56% Fresh rating and “The Dark Knight Rises” holding a Fresh 87%. Although there are a few positive reviews for Zack Snyder’s film, most are calling out the film for its messy, less-than-spectacular promised clash of comic-book titans. Variety‘s Andrew Barker says this epic standoff never develops fully, and instead “the life-or-death battle between the two icons ultimately comes down to a series of misunderstandings.” Barker also believes Henry Cavill’s Superman pales in comparison to “the winningly cranky, charismatic presence even when out of costume” of Ben Affleck’s Batman. Visually, the film is a win.
• David Hasselhoff posed shirtless in matching swimwear with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Bare-chested Hasselhoff is back at Baywatch. It was only a matter of time, but David Hasselhoff, aka The Hoff, joined Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, and Zac Efron on the set of the Baywatch movie, shooting in the Savannah, Ga., area. Johnson shared a photo of him and Hasselhoff without shirts (of course) and with their lifeguard buoys. Johnson wrote, “Phenomenal day on set with my brotha – the OG himself @DavidHasselhoff – the man who started it all.” Efron also shared a photo on Instagram with the series star.  And the younger actor acknowledged that he was learning from the master. “Getting schooled. … What an honor to meet #TheHOFF.” The movie’s release date has not yet been announced.
• Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey get lucky in ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ trailer. She’s baaaaaaaaaack. Yes, kids, Bridget Jones has returned to us once more. She’s a little older, minus a certain love interest (cough Hugh Grant, cough cough) and dealing with a baby on board, but not much else has changed.  Our favorite, slightly not-put-together British woman is still going to the gym, still falling all over herself (and into mud, occasionally) and still balancing two men in her life, although this time one of them is played by Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy in London, how nice). Come for Renee Zellweger returning to the part that made her a star, stay for the delightful Emma Thompson appearance and an Ed Sheeran cameo (seriously). Bridget Jones’s Baby is, um, arriving on Sept. 18.
• Former Major League Catcher Turned ‘Today’ Show Host, Joe Garagiola Dies At 90. PHOENIX (AP) — Joe Garagiola’s nine-year baseball career was a modest one. His 57 years in broadcasting that followed made him one of the most popular figures in the sports world and beyond. The man Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall called “one of the biggest personalities this game has ever seen” died Wednesday. He was 90. The Diamondbacks announced Garagiola’s death before their exhibition game against San Francisco, and there were murmurs of shock and sadness at the ballpark. He had been in ill health in recent years. Garagiola was also a former “The Today Show” host.
• SAG head and ‘White Shadow’ actor Ken Howard dies. He was 71. (USA Today) — Ken Howard, the veteran character actor-turned-union leader, has died at his Los Angeles home, the screen actors union announced Wednesday. He was 71. As president of the Screen Actors Guild since 2009, who oversaw the merger with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), Howard was last seen at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild awards in January. A cause of death was not disclosed.

7am – C         Md. Senate votes to take gender out of motto in state seal. ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) – A measure to officially change the way Maryland translates an old family motto in the state seal has been passed by the Maryland Senate out of concern the old translation was sexist. Senators voted 40-6 Wednesday to translate the motto as “strong deeds, gentle words,” instead of “manly deeds, womanly words.” When Maryland codified the motto “fatti maschii parole femine” in the seal in 1959, it was translated by statute with the gender connotations.

7am – D/E     Obama’s Tango Diplomacy – Was It Appropriate? Tone Deaf After a Terror Attack?

8am – A         INTERVIEW – TUCKER CARLSON – Editor of The Daily Caller and co-host of Fox and Friends – weighed in on Obama’s tango dancing and the civil war in the GOP over Trump.

8am – B         ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

• Axl Rose Joining AC/DC Is Reportedly ‘All But A Done Deal.’ Atlanta Radio 100.5 DJ Jason Bailey reported yesterday on his show, as transcribed by Alternative Nation, that a ‘very very good source’ is telling him that Axl Rose will indeed be joining AC/DC to front the band for the remainder of their tour. Alternative Nation first reported rumors of Rose touring with AC/DC on Monday. “This is what I’m being told, Axl was meeting with the AC/DC group, because it’s all but a done deal that Axl will front AC/DC for the 10 remaining shows. All 10, including Atlanta.” “From what I was told, this was all kind of new inside information to me, Angus is a very black and white guy. He’s like, Brian, for health reasons, can’t continue fronting the band. He was supposed to retire after the last tour, so they wanted to continue going out on the road and continue making music, so if you can’t do it, we appreciate your services, but the show must go on. They’re in town, they were auditioning people for the job, and then they flew Axl in, again, this is from my source.”
• Madonna Extends Record – Highest-Grossing Solo Touring Artist: $1.31 Billion Earned. Her recently completed Rebel Heart Tour earned $170 million & sold more than 1 million tickets. With the wrap of Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour on March 20 in Sydney, the pop superstar solidifies her status as the highest-grossing solo touring artist in Billboard Boxscore history. Based on Billboard’s Boxscore archives that stretch back to 1990, her overall concert grosses reached $1.31 billion with the tour’s final show.
• David Letterman Is Bald, Bearded, And Happy As Hell. Ah, retirement.  (CNN) Wow, David Letterman — is that you? It’s been only 10 months since the late-night host did his farewell show on CBS, but he already looks quite … different. New photos of Letterman jogging on the Caribbean island of St. Barts show a bald, heavily bearded guy who’s almost unrecognizable as the gap-toothed jester who spent 33 years smirking at guests on national TV. More than one commenter has noted his sudden resemblance to a certain red-suited Christmas icon. Letterman, 68, has kept mostly a low profile since retiring in May 2015. He made a cameo at the Indy 500, attended Michael J. Fox’s benefit to fight Parkinson’s disease in New York in November and then showed up a few weeks later for an onstage chat at his alma mater, Ball State. Once active on Twitter, he hasn’t tweeted since last July, when he made a surprise appearance at a San Antonio, Texas, show by fellow comedians Martin Short and Steve Martin.  Letterman read aloud a special Top 10 list about Donald Trump (No. 10: “That thing on his head was the gopher in ‘Caddyshack.'”) and joked that in retiring only weeks before Trump entered the presidential race he had “made the biggest mistake of my life.” Letterman has appeared in public before with his silver, increasingly bushy beard. But the chrome dome is a more recent look.
• Alex Rodriguez, retiring? If he’s close to Barry Bonds’ HR record in 2 years, it can wait. The much-maligned Yankees designated hitter told ESPN that he will retire once his current contract expires after the 2017 season. It should come as no surprise that Alex Rodriguez says he’s calling it quits after next year. The man will be 42 years old. And unemployed. The New York Yankees will finally have paid the last penny of Rodriguez’s historic 10-year, $275 million contract.

8am – C         National Park Service says official Cherry Blossom peak day is Thursday, March 24. WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The National Park Service tells ABC7 the official peak bloom for the cherry blossoms is likely to happen sometime on Thursday. Peak bloom occurs when 70 percent of the Yoshino variety of the cherry trees are in bloom. Many of the trees blossom-lovers are used to seeing along the Tidal Basin are Yoshino cherry trees.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — CATHERINE HERRIDGE – Chief Intelligence correspondent for the Fox News Channel – discussed the latest developments in the manhunt for suspects in the Brussels attacks.

8am – E         Stephen Strasburg strikes out nine New York Yankees in Washington Nationals’ 13-0 win. (USA Today) — Washington Nationals’ right-hander Stephen Strasburg struck out nine batters in five scoreless innings in the Nats’ 13-0 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night in Viera, Florida’s Space Coast Stadium. The one run Stephen Strasburg allowed in three innings of work against the New York Mets in his second start of the Spring on March 11th, came on a two-out single by Juan Lagares that drove former Washington Nationals’ outfielder Roger Bernadina in two outs after after Bernadina hit a leadoff, line drive double.

‘Issue appears to be between the man and the tree’; Dishevelled man refuses to come down after climbing 80-foot tree. (AP) — SEATTLE — Despite hours of police coaxing, a man remained near the top of an 80-foot tall sequoia tree in downtown Seattle early Wednesday, refusing to come down. Authorities were alerted to an unidentified man in the tree around 11 a.m. Tuesday and he was still clinging to its branches at 2:30 a.m. PDT Wednesday, more than 15 hours later. He scrambled down toward the bottom just before 9 p.m. but soon made his way back up, snapping branches along the way. Seattle police say when authorities arrived at the base of the lofty conifer next to Macy’s department store, the man refused to speak with them and threw an apple at medics. “Issue appears to be between the man and the tree,” Seattle police tweeted. By Tuesday afternoon, police said traffic was being tied up as officials closed nearby roads as a precaution. “It is quite a spectacle, honestly,” police spokesman Patrick Michaud told The Seattle Times. Michaud said police want to make sure the man can get down without hurting himself or someone else and added that rushing it could create a dangerous situation. Police have said he appears to be suffering from a crisis and has been yelling intermittently.