Brad Thor, Steve Kastenbaum, KT McFarland, Fairfax City Councilmember Jon Stehle, Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio, DC Councilmember Kenyon McDuffie and former Virginia Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C DRIVE AT FIVE BRAD THOR Discussed Changing His Mind About Being a ‘NEVER TRUMPER’

5am – D/E Ford Promises Fleets of Driverless Cars Within Five Years. At a news conference on Tuesday at the company’s research center in Palo Alto, Calif., Mark Fields, Ford’s chief executive, said the company planned to mass produce driverless cars and have them in commercial operation in a ride-hailing service by 2021. Beyond that, Mr. Fields’s announcement was short on specifics. But he said that the vehicles Ford envisioned would be radically different from those that populate American roads now. “That means there’s going to be no steering wheel. There’s going to be no gas pedal. There’s going to be no brake pedal,’’ he said. “If someone had told you 10 years ago, or even five years ago, that the C.E.O. of a major automaker American car company is going to be announcing the mass production of fully autonomous vehicles, they would have been called crazy or nuts or both.”

6am – A/B/C Anniversary of Elvis Dead – Was Elvis Overrated?

6am – D D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier steps down to work for the NFL.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced Tuesday that she will step down next month to take over as head of security for the National Football League, leaving behind a legacy of community engagement that endeared her from the city’s crime-ridden neighborhoods to the broader national stage. Lanier is ending her 26-year career after recently turning 49, and four months short of serving a full decade heading one of the nation’s highest-profile police departments. She was the District’s first permanent female chief.

6am – E John McLaughlin, the host of the long-running political roundtable show “The McLaughlin Group,” died Tuesday at 89. A former Jesuit priest, McLaughlin went into journalism before creating his eponymous television program in 1982. The show, which McLaughlin both produced and hosted, aired on Sundays and featured a roundtable of political commentators, including Pat Buchanan, Eleanor Clift, Clarence Page and Tom Rogan. Last week, McLaughlin missed his show because he was “under the weather,” he said in a statement. It marked the first time in 34 years he had failed to host his show. The news of his death was announced in a post on the show’s Facebook page. “Earlier this morning, a beloved friend and mentor, Dr. John McLaughlin, passed away peacefully at the age of 89. As a former jesuit priest, teacher, pundit and news host, John touched many lives,” the post read.

7am – A Trump News:

• Donald Trump hands Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon new roles in campaign. Donald Trump is shaking up his campaign’s leadership amid flagging poll numbers, NBC News has learned. Kellyanne Conway — already a senior adviser to the campaign — told NBC News she has been promoted to the role of campaign manager. She confirmed that Paul Manafort will stay on as campaign chair but said Stephen Bannon, the co-founder of conservative Breitbart News, will come on board as campaign CEO. The moves were first reported by The Wall Street Journal and mark yet another round of internal shakeups for a campaign that seems to be struggling to find consistent footing.
• Bannon, a former banker, has never worked on a political campaign. (NY magazine) — He’s no fan of the Republican Establishment, and according to the Post he spent the past few months urging Trump to run a campaign that makes GOP donors and officials uncomfortable – which means embracing his role as an outsider and an “unabashed nationalist.”
• Washington Post: In Bannon especially, Trump is turning to an alter ego — a colorful, edgy figure on the right who has worked at Goldman Sachs and made several films, including a documentary about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Bannon, in phone calls and meetings, has been urging Trump for months not to mount a fall campaign that makes Republican donors and officials comfortable, the aides said. Instead, Bannon has been telling Trump to run more fully as an outsider and an unabashed nationalist. Trump has listened intently to Bannon and agreed with him, believing that voters will ultimately want a presidential candidate who represents disruption more than a candidate with polished appeal, the aides said. “I want to win,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal. “That’s why I’m bringing on fantastic people who know how to win and love to win.”

7am – B/C INTERVIEW – STEVE KASTENBAUM — Correspondent in RIO covering the Olympics

• Rio 2016 Olympics: Day 11 as it happened. (CNN) It’s not often Usain Bolt is a side story, but on day 11 at Rio 2016 the sprint superstar made a low-key start to his bid for 200m glory. His fellow Jamaican Omar McLeod became an Olympic champion in the 110-meter hurdles, while Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon beat Ethiopia’s world champ Genzebe Dibaba in the women’s 1,500m. Russia’s sole track and field competitor felt “alone” in her first appearance, but US gymnastics sensation Simone Biles bounced back from Monday’s slip to win her fourth gold (1529). We also had another marriage proposal (2102) and a golden night for cycling’s soon-to-be-wedded couple (1921). Host Brazil suffered an agonizing semifinal exit in women’s soccer (1612) and a quarterfinal defeat in women’s volleyball (0040) but celebrated its historic first boxing gold (2136).

7am – D INTERVIEW — KT MCFARLAND – Fox News National Security Analyst @KTMCFARLAND

• TRUMP SHAKEUP – KT loves KELLYANNE CONWAY
• Donald Trump announced strategy on ISIS this week. Hillary says ground troops are off the table
• Syrian conflict: Russian bombers use Iran base for air strikes. Russia’s defence ministry says it has used a base in western Iran to carry out air strikes in Syria. Tupolev-22M3 long-range bombers and Sukhoi-34 strike fighters took off from Hamedan on Tuesday, a statement said. Targets were hit in Aleppo, Idlib and Deir al-Zour provinces, it added. Local groups said 27 civilians had died. It is reportedly the first time Russia has struck targets inside Syria from a third country since it began a campaign to prop up Syria’s president last year. Iran is Bashar al-Assad’s main regional ally and has provided significant military and financial support since an uprising against him erupted in 2011.
• Lawmakers slam ‘reckless’ Gitmo release as Obama speeds up transfers.as Obama speeds up transfers. Republican critics slam president’s ‘race to close’ Gitmo

7am – E INTERVIEW — Fairfax City Councilmember JON STEHLE

• Recap Last night’s meeting about replacing the mayor
• Fairfax City council votes unanimously for new interim mayor. FAIRFAX CITY, Va. — The City of Fairfax has a new interim mayor after the city council voted unanimously for former council member Steven Stombres at a special meeting Tuesday night. Stombres takes over after former Mayor Richard “Scott” Silverthorne resigned last week following an arrest and drug charges. The former three-term city council member will have all the powers of mayor until a special election on Feb. 7. “Mr. Stombres has served on the council before and has the ability to hit the ground running,” said Councilman Jeffrey Greenfield. Stombres, a D.C. lobbyist for Harbinger Strategies, is a former chief of staff to one-time House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

8am – A INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO — chief congressional correspondent for The Washington Examiner

• Donald Trump hands Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon new roles in campaign
• Susan was a regular on McLaughlin Group. Her reflections on the passing of John McLaughlin, host of ‘The McLaughlin Group,’ dies at 89
• Will Trump impact congressional Republicans?

8am – B/C INTERVIEW — D.C. COUNCILMEMBER KENYON MCDUFFIE — Councilmember for Ward 5 and Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary.

• D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier steps down to work for the NFL

8am – D INTERVIEW – GERARD ROBINSON — is the former COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION for the State of FLORIDA and former SECRETARY OF EDUCATION for the Commonwealth of VIRGINIA. He is also a RESIDENT FELLOW at the AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE (AEI), where he works on education policy issues & former Secretary of Education in VA and FL

• Black Lives Matter & the NAACP are calling for an end to charter school growth. (The Nation) — A few weeks ago, the Movement for Black Lives, the network that also includes Black Lives Matter organizers, released its first-ever policy agenda. Among the organization’s six demands and dozens of policy recommendations was a bold education-related stance: a moratorium on both charter schools and public school closures. Charters, the agenda argues, represent a shift of public funds and control over to private entities. Along with “an end to the privatization of education,” the Movement for Black Lives organizers are demanding increased investments in traditional community schools and the health and social services they provide.

8am – E WEINER SEXTING AGAIN?

• Report: Weiner Caught Sexting Again; ‘Catfished’ by Republican Man
• Anthony Weiner: My ’emotional wiring isn’t fully connected’ — Anthony Weiner says he feels no shame, admitting that his “emotional wiring isn’t fully connected.” The former congressman, whose career and mayoral aspirations were torpedoed by his proclivity for sexy online chatter, said he’s survived years of tabloid disgrace with a hard shell that goes deep below the surface. “To some degree, the same thing that made me successful and that allowed me to survive stuff is that my emotional wiring isn’t fully connected,” he told the New York Times in an interview published Tuesday. He’s previously told makers of the documentary “Weiner” that politicians “are probably wired in some way that needs attention.” “I have a very thick skin,” Weiner told the Times. “Without going down a rabbit hole here, you could argue that some of my emotional wiring wasn’t working terribly well. That is how I can survive having 40 cameras outside my house.” In the same chat, Weiner also refused to say whether he’s still sexting. “I’m not going to go down the path of talking about any of that,” Weiner said, before rationalizing that sexting is better than cozying up with Russian spies.