WMAL’s Trevor Matich, Olympian Ginny Thrasher and Bret Baier joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, August 26, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C   Clinton: Trump ‘Offering A Dog Whistle To His Most Hateful Supporters.’ Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton attacked Donald Trump Thursday in Reno, Nevada, and accused his campaign of promoting racism and bigotry as a result of his support from the alt-right. “Under the guise of outreach to Americans, Trump has stood up in front of largely white audiences and described black communities in such insulting and ignorant terms—poverty, rejection, horrible education, no housing, no homes, no ownership, crimes at levels nobody has seen. Right now, he said, you can walk down the street and get shot. Those are his words,” Clinton said. The former secretary of state went on to say that supporters of Trump who call themselves the “alt-right” are a faction of base who push “white supremacy” and conspiracy theories, such as questioning whether Sen. Ted Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, was involved in the Kennedy assassination.

5am – D         Teen News:

• Australian study shows baby simulator dolls do not prevent teen pregnancy. Originally invented in the United States, the robotic dolls have now made it into schools and other educational institutions, and youth centers in almost 100 countries worldwide. Girls and young women use them in parenting programs called Virtual Infant Parenting (VIP) to learn what it really means to care for an infant.Fifty-seven schools participated in the study, with 1267 female students taking part in the VIP program. A further 1567 students were in a control group, which received a more traditional health and sex education. All students were between 13 and 15 years old when the study started. They study followed them until they turned 20.The results are surprising: It looks as though the simulator dolls achieved the opposite effect of what the educators had had in mind for the young, virtual moms.Led by Sally Brinkman of the University of Western Australia in Adelaide, the researchers have published their findings in the journal “The Lancet.” Brinkmann says the VIP group showed a higher number of pregnancies and abortions than the control group.  Eight percent of the girls in the VIP-group gave birth to at least one child – as compared to four percent in the control group. Nine percent of the girls who participated in the VIP program had an abortion. That figure for the control group was only six percent.
• Study finds most teens vaping fruity flavors, not nicotine. Health officials warn that electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices are poisoning kids with nicotine. But new research suggests that most teens aren’t vaping nicotine at all but using sweet and fruity flavors like strawberry, chocolate cake and bubble gum. Health officials warn that electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices are poisoning kids with nicotine. But new research suggests that most teens aren’t vaping nicotine at all but using sweet and fruity flavors like strawberry, chocolate cake and bubble gum. Only a fraction of young vapers were inhaling nicotine, a nationwide survey showed. The majority — two-thirds — said they vaped “just flavoring.” Nicotine is considered harmful to the developing teenage brain. But the finding raises big questions about how U.S. health officials are portraying the threat of e-cigarettes to youths, said Richard Miech, the study’s lead author at the University of Michigan.

5am – E         Teaching dogs to talk is easier than you think. Atlanta (CNN)If dogs could talk, Melody Jackson knows what they would say. Or at least, what she’d like them to say.

Jackson, an associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has developed technology that is giving dogs a voice, an ability she says is crucial for search and rescue, bomb detection and therapy dogs. The dogs wear vests equipped with sensors that can send either audible cues or text notifications to a smartphone Jackson earned her Ph.D. in computer science from Georgia Tech in 1998 and has trained assistance dogs for nearly 20 years. Now she’s putting her two passions together. Jackson’s research team, which includes professor Thad Starner and research scientist Clint Zeagler, has created high-tech vests for canines for a project called FIDO, which stands for “Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations.” The program is sponsored by The National Science Foundation and also the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA. The vests have been approved by Jackson’s 8-year-old border collie, Sky.

“He actually has helped us design a lot of these sensors, by telling us what works and what doesn’t work,” she says. “So, he’s sort of our first line of testing before we go out to the rest of the world. He’s a very critical part of our design team.” The vest has side sensors that the dogs trigger with a bite or a nudge of their nose. They’re trained with toys, identifying between a Frisbee or a ball, and telling their handler which is which. Jackson explains this is an example of a “discrimination task” that can be translated to more important tasks, such as bomb detection, where the dog would tell his handler what explosive he or she has scented.

6am – A         INTERVIEW – OLYMPIAN GINNY THRASHER

• Teen shooter Ginny Thrasher wins USA’s first gold medal of Rio Olympics. RIO DE JANEIRO — American shooter Ginny Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics, pulling off an upset in the women’s 10-meter air rifle event Saturday morning. Thrasher, 19, beat silver medalist Du Li of China in the final round with a total of 208.0, setting an Olympic record in the finals. Du finished with 207.0. Yi Siling of China took bronze as the first medals in Rio were awarded. Thrasher wasn’t one of the favorites to win a medal coming into the Olympics. She is an NCAA champion at West Virginia competing in her first Olympics. The American was up against a deep field that included Du, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and Andrea Arsovic of Serbia, who is ranked No. 1 in the world and failed to advance to the final. Yi won Olympic gold in the 2012 London Games.

6am – B         Space News:

• Earth 2 Found In Neighboring Galaxy; Evidence Of Possible Life Found. After years and years of research for Earth-like worlds outside the solar system, a group of scientists’ effort from the European Observatory has finally paid off. Today, they revealed their newest discovery – it appears that they have found an exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star closest to Earth. CNN reports Proxima Centauri is a moderately active, small low-mass star and is known to be the Sun’s closest neighbor. It’s approximately 4.25 lightyears away from Earth, and the exoplanet orbiting around it is dubbed as Proxima B. It is known to be a rocky planet and possibly more massive than Earth; and according to ESO’s findings, “The rocky world has a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface” and is just a little bigger than Earth,” Since Proxima B also orbits its sun(Proxima Centauri) which leads them to believe that it is a habitable planet that can foster life or “habitable zone”.
• After 22 months, NASA hears from “lost” spacecraft. Nearly two years after one of NASA’s two STEREO sun-watching satellites dropped off line after a malfunction, the spacecraft finally phoned home Sunday. NASA re-established contact with a wayward sun-watching science satellite Sunday nearly two years after the spacecraft suddenly dropped off line during a test, the agency said in a statement Monday. Launched in 2006, the STEREO mission featured two spacecraft — STEREO-A and STEREO-B — designed to monitor solar activity from different locations, one “ahead” in its orbit and one “behind,” allowing scientists to see the entire star, not just the side facing Earth. The spacecraft were built and are managed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. Years beyond the original two-year mission duration, the spacecraft reached positions in their orbit relative to the sun and Earth where they would be on the far side of the star and out of direct contact with Earth for up to three months.

6am –C          Nats honoring Frank Howard during Friday night’s game, induction into the Ring of Honor.  Senators great Frank Howard is being inducted into the DC Ring of Honor at the Nats game Friday night… Former Washington Senator slugger Frank Howard, a long-time resident of Northern Virginia, will be honored before Friday’s game as he takes a spot in the ring of honor at Nationals Park.

6am – D         Old People Are Happier Than Those In Their 20s. A surprising study suggests that the older you are, the happier. Despite of the physical ravages of age, older people are actually happier than younger adults. So finds a new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, in which researchers analyzed data collected from a random sample of 1,546 people from ages 21 to 99 in San Diego.  After a phone interview, the people in the study filled out a long survey asking about their physical, cognitive and mental health. Question topics included how happy and satisfied with life they were, as well as how depressed, anxious or stressed they were.

6am – E         US Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian ship; 4 Mideast close calls this week. A U.S. Navy coastal patrol ship fired three warning shots at an Iranian ship that sailed within 200 yards in the Northern Persian Gulf Wednesday after one of four close calls this week involving U.S. and Iranian vessels, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News on Thursday. The USS Squall fired the shots, according to the official. On Tuesday, four Iranian small boats “harassed” the USS Nitze, sailing near the guided missile destroyer in the narrow Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. Navy official told Fox News.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — TREVOR MATICH — Redskins elite long snapper, WMAL’s Redskins analyst and Comcast SportsNet co-host

• GAME TONIGHT: Friday, August 26th 7:30 p.m.  BUFFALO BILLS VS WASHINGTON REDSKINS
• Patriots trade center Bryan Stork to Redskins. (NFL) – Over the past two seasons, Bryan Stork started 17 games at center for the New England Patriots. On Wednesday, he found himself with another team. The Patriots traded their 2014 fourth-round draft pick to the Washington Redskins in exchange for a conditional draft pick, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport first reported. The Redskins confirmed the acquisition Wednesday afternoon. The Pats will receive a seventh-round conditional pick, per the league’s transaction wire. Rapoport reported earlier that the Patriots intended to cut the center. Stork, who was in the process of losing the starting job to 2015 undrafted free agent David Andrews, also got himself booted from a joint practice with the Chicago Bears last week for mixing it up with Bears linebacker Sam Acho.
• Projecting the Redskins 53-man roster: First cuts approaching.  (CSN) – The Redskins are heading in to their third preseason game and next Tuesday the bubble will burst for about a dozen players as they cut their roster down to 75. Then on September 3, just nine days from today, the roster will be cut to 53.   Many of the roster spots are set but there are enough jobs up for grabs to make the last two practice games interesting.  One important thing to keep in mind is that Jay Gruden said last week that preseason games matter a lot when it comes to trimming the roster to 53. With two games in the books we have a lot of evidence to work with.
• Redskins vs Bills: 5 things to watch in the preseason game that matters. When the Redskins take on the Bills Friday night (7:30 @ CSN) this will be the closest to a regular season game Washington gets before September 12th. It’s time for the ‘Skins to show up. With starters slated to play a full half, the team will get the opportunity.
• Time for Cousins – Kirk Cousins got an unexpected night off last week when Jay Gruden decided to give backup Colt McCoy the start against the Jets. That should not be the case Friday as Gruden has said he expects the starters to go for the first half against the Bills. Cousins, for his part, is ready to take the field. “We want to be sharp, we want to stay healthy. We just want to move the football, convert third downs, stay out on the field and score points, and that really never changes. Whether it’s the preseason, whether it’s a practice session of moving the football, or whether it’s a real game,” the QB said on Monday.

7am – B         Lochte News:

• Ryan Lochte to Be Summoned to Testify in Brazil Over ‘Robbery’ Claim. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte will be summoned to appear before a Brazilian judge in response to the bathroom vandalism case that sparked an international scandal during the Rio games as police have recommended Lochte be charged in the incident, officials said Thursday. Lochte initially claimed he and three other teammates were held up by armed robbers at a gas station early Aug. 14 following a night of drinking and clubbing. Police, however, said video footage from the Shell station proved otherwise and Lochte gave false statements to them about what had happened. As more questions mounted, he and his teammates later admitted to embellishing their story and leaving out other details to investigators.
• Ryan Lochte to join latest ‘Dancing with the Stars’ cast. (USA Today) — Ryan Lochte is going on Dancing with the Stars, locking down a deal in the works before his Olympic saga, a person familiar with the deal confirmed to USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday.The 23rd season of the show premieres on Sept. 12. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the addition of Lochte has not been announced publicly.
• Ryan Lochte adds Pine Bros., cough drop maker, as new sponsor. (USA Today) — After being dropped by four major sponsors this week, Ryan Lochte picked up a new one Thursday with Pine Bros. Softish Throat Drops. Lochte will appear in ads for the company with the tagline, “Pine Bros. Softish Throat Drops: Forgiving On Your Throat,” according to a statement. “Thanks to all the folks at pine bros. for your confidence in me. I look forward to making you proud,” Lochte tweeted. This comes three days after Speedo became the first sponsor to cut ties with Lochte. The 12-time Olympic medalist initially exaggerated his account of being robbed along with three other U.S. swimmers during a stop at a Rio gas station during the Games. Lochte has been criticized for inflating the details, although witness statements support that the swimmers were held a gunpoint and forced to pay security guards for a sign that was torn down by Lochte.

7am – C         Trump campaign CEO once charged in domestic violence case. The 1996 charges were later dropped due to witness unavailability. (Politico) — Stephen K. Bannon, the new CEO of the Donald Trump campaign, was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness following an incident in early January 1996, though the case was ultimately dismissed, according to a police report and court documents. The Santa Monica, Calif., police report says that Bannon’s then-wife claimed he pulled at her neck and wrist during an altercation over their finances, and an officer reported witnessing red marks on her neck and wrist to bolster her account.  Bannon also reportedly smashed the phone when she tried to call the police.

7am – D         Clinton: Trump ‘Offering A Dog Whistle To His Most Hateful Supporters.’ Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton attacked Donald Trump Thursday in Reno, Nevada, and accused his campaign of promoting racism and bigotry as a result of his support from the alt-right. “Under the guise of outreach to Americans, Trump has stood up in front of largely white audiences and described black communities in such insulting and ignorant terms—poverty, rejection, horrible education, no housing, no homes, no ownership, crimes at levels nobody has seen. Right now, he said, you can walk down the street and get shot. Those are his words,” Clinton said. The former secretary of state went on to say that supporters of Trump who call themselves the “alt-right” are a faction of base who push “white supremacy” and conspiracy theories, such as questioning whether Sen. Ted Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, was involved in the Kennedy assassination.

7am – E         Your daily coffee habit could be partly genetic, new study suggests. (The Guardian) — A gene that apears to wield influence over the amount of coffee people drink has been found by scientists who believe the section of DNA alters how caffeine is broken down in the body. Italians villagers who carry a specific variant of the PDSS2 gene consume about one less cup of coffee per day compared with non-carriers, according to researchers at Edinburgh University. The gene variant appears to affect people’s coffee intake by slowing the metabolism of caffeine in the body. When caffeine is broken down more slowly, the stimulant lingers in the blood for longer and gives people a more enduring “hit” for every cup. Nicola Pirastu, a geneticist who led the study, said the discovery reinforces the idea that caffeine is one of the main drivers for drinking coffee. But he added that larger studies are needed to confirm the biological mechanism that links the PDSS2 gene to coffee drinking.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – OLYMPIAN GINNY THRASHER

Teen shooter Ginny Thrasher wins USA’s first gold medal of Rio Olympics. RIO DE JANEIRO — American shooter Ginny Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics, pulling off an upset in the women’s 10-meter air rifle event Saturday morning. Thrasher, 19, beat silver medalist Du Li of China in the final round with a total of 208.0, setting an Olympic record in the finals.

8am – B         Virginia woman shoots down drone near Robert Duvall’s property. FAUQUIER COUNTY, Va. (ABC7) — Jennifer Youngman says she’s like a pistol-packing Annie Oakley. “When it came I just reached my gun up like this, pow, and got it,” said Youngman. One shot, and her target was down. “Well sometimes my actions think before I do,” said Youngman. She’s made hunting a hobby and she practices with skeet and trap. In late June, she had a larger target near her tree line in Fauquier County. “The cattle scattered. The drone went over the trees across the street, disappeared out of sight,” said Youngman Across the street, behind the thick trees, lives a man you have likely seen in the movies. Robert Duvall owns the 400-acre property.

8am – C         Uber prices are going up in D.C. area. Uber rides in the D.C. area  are getting more expensive. The Washington Post reports Uber is hiking its minimum uberX fare by $1 in response to concerns from drivers. The minimum fare is increasing from $5.35 to $6.35. The fare hikes aren’t just hitting the nation’s capital. Uber said in a blog post that it is raising its minimum fare in 24 cities nationwide. Uber says the price increase won’t affect commuters who use its carpooling option. The company says uberPOOL fares won’t be affected.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – BRET BAIER — Anchor of Special Report on Fox News Channel

• Discussed the mounting stories about the Clinton Foundation
• US Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian ship; 4 Mideast close calls this week.
• Clinton: Trump ‘Offering A Dog Whistle To His Most Hateful Supporters’
• Bret’s thoughts on Trump’s shifting on immigration

8am – E         Nats honoring Frank Howard during Friday night’s game, induction into the Ring of Honor.  Senators great Frank Howard is being inducted into the DC Ring of Honor at the Nats game Friday night… Former Washington Senator slugger Frank Howard, a long-time resident of Northern Virginia, will be honored before Friday’s game as he takes a spot in the ring of honor at Nationals Park.