Nomiki Konst, James Rosen, Kathy Patterson and Jake Tapper joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C PGA Tour moves tournament from Trump Doral to Mexico City. DUBLIN, Ohio — The longtime PGA Tour event at Miami’s Trump Doral resort is leaving South Florida and heading to Mexico City in 2017. The PGA Tour announced Wednesday that the new event will be known as the WGC-Mexico Championship. It will be held March 2-5 next year, but a venue has not been determined. The Tour has a 7-year agreement through 2023 with Group Salinas, a collection of companies based in Mexico City primarily involved in retail, television and telecommunications, to run the event. Trump Doral had been the site of a PGA Tour event since 1962.

5am – D         State Department admits briefing footage on Iran deal intentionally deleted. (Fox News) — The State Department, in a stunning admission, acknowledged Wednesday that an official intentionally deleted several minutes of video footage from a 2013 press briefing, where a top spokeswoman seemed to acknowledge misleading the press over the Iran nuclear deal. “There was a deliberate request [to delete the footage] – this wasn’t a technical glitch,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday, in admitting that an unidentified official had a video editor “excise” the segment. The State Department had faced questions earlier this year over the block of missing tape from a December 2013 briefing. At that briefing, then-spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked by Fox News’ James Rosen about an earlier claim that no direct, secret talks were underway between the U.S. and Iran – when, in fact, they were. Psaki at the time seemed to admit the discrepancy, saying: “There are times where diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress. This is a good example of that.”

5am – E         Hillary/Sanders News:

• California poll shows Clinton and Sanders in dead heat heading into Tuesday’s primary. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are neck and neck in the California Democratic primary, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released today. Among surveyed voters likely to participate in the Democratic primary, Clinton polled at 49 percent and Sanders at 47 percent. These numbers are similar to those in a poll released last week from PPIC, which showed Clinton at 46 percent and Sanders at 44 percent.
• Harry Reid on Bernie Sanders: “Sometimes you just have to give up.” LAS VEGAS — Bernie Sanders needs to recognize that “sometimes you just have to give up,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday. Reid said his fellow senator should not carry his presidential campaign through to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, as he intends to do. Instead, Reid said, Sanders needs to recognize that “math is math” after next week’s primaries in California and New Jersey, when Hillary Clinton is expected to rack up enough delegates to effectively clinch the nomination. Reid, who has endorsed Clinton, stopped short of calling on Sanders to drop out. But he made his views clear in direct and even harsh terms. Reid said Sanders has a right to continue his campaign through the convention, but added: “No, I don’t think he should. I don’t know what that’s going to prove. Sometimes you just have to give up. I’ve lost before. The numbers aren’t there.”
• Clinton’s Fibs, and Her Opponents’ Double Whoppers [Thomas L. Friedman/New York Times] — Your Honor, I rise this week in defense of Hillary Clinton. I see from polls that Hillary scores very low on “trustworthy” questions. Well, let’s talk about truth in politics. All politicians shade the truth at times. Some do it more than others. Indeed, when Donald Trump tells the truth, it should be labeled “Breaking News — Trump tells truth without immediately contradicting himself. We’re going live to the scene right now.”  Here is what is relevant: Lying is serious business. But Hillary’s fibs or lack of candor are all about bad judgments she made on issues that will not impact the future of either my family or my country. Private email servers? Cattle futures? Goldman Sachs lectures? All really stupid, but my kids will not be harmed by those poor calls. Debate where she came out on Iraq and Libya, if you will, but those were considered judgment calls, and if you disagree don’t vote for her.
• Clinton Might Not Be the Nominee. A Sanders win in California would turbocharge the mounting Democratic unease about her viability. (By Douglas E. Schoen/Wall Street Journal) –– There is now more than a theoretical chance that Hillary Clinton may not be the Democratic nominee for president. How could that happen, given that her nomination has been considered a sure thing by virtually everyone in the media and in the party itself? Consider the possibilities. The inevitability behind Mrs. Clinton’s nomination will be in large measure eviscerated if she loses the June 7 California primary to Bernie Sanders. That could well happen.

6am – A/B/C Does Merit Matter Anymore?

• Report on racial disparities in gifted and magnet programs gets strong reaction. (Washington Post) — Many Asian American parents worry that potential admissions changes to Montgomery County’s selective academic programs could limit access for their children, while a number of black and Hispanic families have welcomed the county’s efforts to examine racial and ethnic disparities in the school system’s gifted and magnet programs. A recent report on school choice in the suburban Maryland school district recommended changes to increase diversity in the county’s highly gifted centers and magnet programs. It found stark disparities in enrollment and acceptance rates, with white and Asian students faring better than their black and Hispanic classmates. The most controversial of the report’s recommendations would modify the admissions process to focus on “selecting equitably” from applicants who show a capacity to thrive. It suggests a few possible ideas, including admitting the top-performing children from each “sending” school and broadening the definition of “gifted.”
• School Forbids Students from Wearing National Honor Society Stoles So Others Won’t Feel Left. (National Review) — God forbid we recognize academic achievement and community service. Students at Plano Senior High School in Texas will not be allowed to wear National Honor Society stoles at their graduation because, apparently, that might make kids who were not in NHS feel left out.  In order to earn membership in the National Honors Society, students must not only maintain a high GPA, but also perform regular community service each semester. (Clearly, two accomplishments too controversial to deserve recognition.)  Now, according to local news source WFAA, students with a 3.6 GPA or higher will be allowed to wear stoles signifying that they earned a high GPA. But one NHS member, Garrett Frederick, said that that’s kind of missing the point.

6am – D         DC Parking Wars: A warning left on a nanny’s car. License plates stolen. And a top Pentagon official in big trouble. (Washington Post) — The mystery that for weeks unnerved this quiet Capitol Hill neighborhood began with a warning placed on a nanny’s windshield. “I know you are misusing this visitor pass to park here daily,” the April 4 note read. “If you do not stop I will report it, have your car towed and the resident who provided this to you will have his privileges taken away.” Baffled, the young couple the nanny worked for sent out a message on the community email group asking for the note’s anonymous author to contact them. No one came forward. Instead, two days later, the nanny’s license plates were stolen from her SUV, according to charging documents. Two days after that, another plate was stolen.

6am – E         Drive Thru News:

• Guy Who Threw Alligator Into Wendy’s Drive-Thru Window Gets Probation, Ordered To Stay Away From Wendy’s. Florida Man Arrested for Allegedly Tossing Alligator Into Wendy’s Drive-Thru Window. Remember the guy who chucked a live alligator through the open window of a Wendy’s drive-thru? Of course you do, because who throws alligators?  He’s now paying for his self-proclaimed “stupid prank” with a year of probation and an order to stay away from the chain restaurant. Palm Beach County Judge Barry Cohen also slapped the 24-year-old Florida man with a $500 fine and 75 hours of community service, and denied a defense request to keep the convictions for unlawful possession of alligator or parts and assault off his record, reports the Sun Sentinel. He came down hard on the man because “this type of thing is not a prank. It’s a crime,” the judge said, calling it one of the most bizarre cases he’s seen in his 25-year career.
• Blind man claims McDonald’s drive-thru is discriminatory, files lawsuit. (Fox News) — A Louisiana man is suing McDonald’s over its drive-thru policy that prohibits customers without wheels from using the service. Scott Magee, who is blind, says the fast food chain’s refusal to accommodate those who cannot drive is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to the suit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois  (McDonald’s headquarters is located in Oak Brook, Ill., a Chicago suburb), the chain has no “concern whatsoever for the accessibility of the late-night drive-thrus to the disabled.” Roberto Luis Costales, of New Orleans-based lawfirm Beaumont Costales, is representing Magee. He says McDonald’s current drive-thru policy is “discrimination in its purest form.” “McDonald’s is effectively prohibiting not just the blind, but millions of disabled Americans who cannot drive from using a service that is available to all other customers,” Costales told FoxNews.com. Since news of the lawsuit broke, Costales says his law office has received calls from dozens of people, including a man with epilepsy.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — NOMIKI “Nomi” KONST (No-me-KEE Kahnst) – a Bernie Sanders supporter, contributor for The Hill, and founder & Executive Director of The Accountability Project (TAP)

• Nomiki was in CALIFORNIA last week on the campaign trail

• California poll shows Clinton and Sanders in dead heat heading into Tuesday’s primary.
• Harry Reid on Bernie Sanders: “Sometimes you just have to give up

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW — JAMES ROSEN — music aficionado, the chief Washington correspondent of Fox News and the author of “Cheney One on One: A Candid Conversation with America’s Most Controversial Statesman”

• State Department admits briefing footage on Iran deal intentionally deleted
• The Monkees Celebrate 50th Anniversary, Release First Album Since Davy

7am – D         INTERVIEW – CHRIS BARNES of FIXWMATA,com and @FIXWMATA on Twitter

• SafeTrack project coming:  A long summer of tough commutes for Metrorail riders will start June 4 with 13 straight days of single-tracking in one section

7am – E         Obama Tries to Trash Donald Trump and Turns into a Stuttering Mess. The lame duck president went to Indiana today to hold a rally and trash-talk Donald Trump.  Barack Obama: If we turn against each other based on division of race or religion. If-if-if-if-if-if-if-if-if-if-if we fall for, you know, a bunch of okie-doke, just because, you know it-it-it. You know, it-it-it-it-it-it sounds funny or the tweets are provocative.

8am – A                     INTERVIEW — KATHLEEN “KATHY” PATTERSON — District of Columbia Auditor.

• Cost for New Duke Ellington School More Than Doubles, Auditor Says. The cost of the new Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Washington, D.C., has more than doubled, a new report from the D.C. auditor revealed. The price of the school slowly soared from $71 million to $178 million without a comprehensive review by the D.C. Council on the location or other cost drivers, D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson said. “The bottom line is that our school modernization program has had little discipline to date,” Patterson said.  Patterson said two other locations that may have cost less than the Georgetown location were rejected without public debate or vetting by council.

8am – B                     Celebrity Selfie and UCLA Shooting:

• Debra Messing Apologizes for Posting Selfie Amid UCLA Shooting News, Says She Was ‘Shocked’ by the ‘Horrible Irony.’ Debra Messing has apologized for a selfie she posted amid breaking news of a shooting on the UCLA campus. Two males were killed in an apparent murder-suicide on the California college campus on Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times, which also reports that classes have been canceled for the day after a campus-wide lockdown was lifted. “The campus is now safe,” said LAPD police chief Charlie Beck at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon. “The issue that occurred has been contained.” While Messing was participating in a pre-planned campaign aimed at raising awareness of gun violence, she apparently saw news of the shooting, and posted, then subsequently deleted, a selfie, writing, “HORRENDOUS Watching news about shooting at UCLA with casualties while taking selfie to bring awareness to gun violence.”
• Los Angeles Time Editorial: Just a murder-suicide in a small UCLA office. And so America shrugs. The call came from the UCLA campus just before 10 a.m. – someone had opened fire with a gun. “Active shooter,” and the warning went out for those on campus to shelter in place. Where was it? The Engineering 4 building. Police arrived in waves, along with firefighters and other emergency responders. The Los Angeles Police Department went on citywide tactical alert, the better to marshal resources, as television showed students being escorted to safety, hands on their heads, by officers in tactical gear. And then the wait. What had happened? Was there still someone with a gun? Was it still dangerous? Was this going to be another horrific scene of of violence, like that at Umpqua Community College in Oregon in October? But there were no more bullets. No confirmed sightings of a man with a gun still at his deadly work. Something less dramatic, apparently, had occurred, something smaller in scope than the mass shootings we’ve become accustomed to.

8am – C         Gov. Gary Johnson Complains About Underwear Restricting His Johnson. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson told The New York Times Wednesday that he’s been struggling recently with small underwear he purchased from Amazon. Before becoming governor he ran a construction contracting business called “Big J Enterprises.” In a previous visit to The Daily Caller, Johnson said the name came from his nickname in high school, “Big Johnson.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW — JAKE TAPPER – ANCHOR of “THE LEAD” and “STATE OF THE UNION” on CNN

• HE’LL HAVE TRUMP AND SANDERS ON SUNDAY
• ON TUESDAY – Day of TRUMP presser: Tapper to Hillary: You Haven’t Had a Press Conference in Months, Will You Fix That?
• State Department admits briefing footage on Iran deal intentionally deleted

8am – E         Entertainment News:

• Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris Split After 15 Months Together. (People) — Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris are going their separate ways. The singer, 26, and the DJ, 32, have broken up, multiple sources confirm exclusively to PEOPLE. “There was no drama. Things just don’t work out sometimes,” says an insider. “No one cheated.” In March, the pair celebrated their one-year anniversary with a tropical getaway.
• TV is killing off so many characters that death is losing its punch. (Vox) — And television changed. Maybe for the worse. The spring of 2016 has been marked by death after death after death on TV. Some have proved controversial. Some have passed without commentary. A couple have been largely applauded. But the fact remains: TV is killing major characters at an astonishing rate. Vox’s Caroline Framke painstakingly catalogued all the character deaths from the 2015-’16 television season (provided the dearly departed appeared in three or more episodes of their respective shows) and landed on over 230 — and because there are so many series now, it’s entirely possible that number is off by a few. About 56 percent of deaths were male characters, and 44 percent women.  42 percent were straight white men; 24 percent were straight white women.  26 percent were minorities (both men and women, LGBTQ included).  About 10 percent were LGBTQ women; 3 percent were LGBTQ men. 26 percent of characters were shot; 16 percent were stabbed; 9 percent killed themselves (including for the greater good). The other minor categories for causes of death included supernatural causes, illness, explosions, poisoning, suffocation, and beating.