Weather Channel’s Ray Stagich, Fox News Meteorologist Janice Dean, Politico’s Alex Isenstadt, Fox 5’s Gary McGrady, Fairfax County School Board Member Elizabeth Schultz, Fox’s James Rosen and guest host Amber Smith joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, September 2, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and guest host Amber Smith – author of “Danger Close”

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A   Q & A INTERVIEW — AMBER SMITH — author of “Danger Close: My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan” and combat

• Danger Close: My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan Hardcover – September 6, 2016 by Amber Smith (Author) / The inspiring and riveting first-ever memoir of active combat by a female helicopter pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan. Amber Smith flew into enemy fire in some of the most dangerous combat zones in the world. One of only a few women to fly the Kiowa Warrior helicopter—whose mission, armed reconnaissance, required its pilots to stay low and fly fast, perilously close to the fight—Smith deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the elite 2-17 Cavalry Regiment, part of the legendary 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles. She rose to Pilot-in-Command and Air Mission Commander in the premier Kiowa unit in the Army, repeatedly flying into harm’s way during her 2005 and 2008 deployments. In Danger Close, Smith takes us into the heat of battle, enabling readers to feel, hear, and smell the experience of serving as a combat pilot in high-intensity warfare. This is an edge-of-the seat story of learning to perform under pressure and persevere under extreme duress—both in action against an implacable enemy and within the elite “boy’s club” of Army aviation. Smith’s unrelenting fight for both mastery and respect delivers universal life-lessons that will be useful to any civilian, from “earning your spurs” as a newbie to “embracing the suck” through setbacks that challenge your self-confidence to learning to trust your gut as a veteran of your profession.

5am – B/C   2016 News:

• Bill Clinton aides used tax dollars to subsidize foundation, private email support. Program for ex-presidents paid salaries and benefits to Clinton aides at the center of controversies. (Politico) — Bill Clinton’s staff used a decades-old federal government program, originally created to keep former presidents out of the poorhouse, to subsidize his family’s foundation and an associated business, and to support his wife’s private email server, a POLITICO investigation has found. Taxpayer cash was used to buy IT equipment — including servers — housed at the Clinton Foundation, and also to supplement the pay and benefits of several aides now at the center of the email and cash-for-access scandals dogging Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. This investigation, which is based on records obtained from the General Services Administration through the Freedom of Information Act, does not reveal anything illegal. But it does offer fresh evidence of how the Clintons blurred the line between their nonprofit foundation, Hillary Clinton’s State Department, and the business dealings of Bill Clinton and the couple’s aides.
• Judicial Watch: New Abedin Emails Reveal Top Clinton Foundation Executive Doug Band Sought Diplomatic Passport from Clinton State Department. Abedin responded to Band request: ‘Ok will figure it out.’ Emails also reveal Bill Clinton/Doug Band Sought State Department Favors for Foundation Supporters Andrew Liveris, Chris Ruddy, and Lynn de Rothschild. (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released 510 pages of new State Department documents, including a 2009 request by Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band for diplomatic passports for himself and an associate.  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s aide Abedin responded to Band’s request positively, saying, “Ok will figure it out.”  The emails show Hillary Clinton forwarding classified information to Abedin’s unsecured, non-state.gov account. The emails also show Bill Clinton sought a meeting with Mrs. Clinton for a major Clinton donor with State Department officials and Hillary Clinton herself pushed for a joint event with the Clinton Global Initiative.  Band also pushed for and obtained special help from Abedin for seven-figure Clinton Foundation donor Chris Ruddy, of Newsmax.com.
• Poll: Donald Trump Closes Virginia Gap to Two Points. A new poll of Virginia voters released by the Hampton University Center For Public Policy found Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump separated by only two points. The poll of registered voters found Hillary Clinton with a slight lead — 43 percent to Donald Trump’s 41 percent. Sixteen percent of the likely voters said they were not sure or refused to answer. That 2-point gap is a huge drop from the 11-point advantage that Clinton has in the Real Clear Politics average of Virginia polls.

5am – C   The SpaceX Explosion: SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a hot run, a test fire before a launch planned for this Saturday. What exploded? Right around 1:12, a big fire erupts from the upper third of the rocket. That means the explosion probably originated either in the second stage booster’s liquid oxygen fuel, or the hydrazine fuel in the payload itself—a communications satellite from Israeli firm Spacecom Ltd that was bound for geostationary orbit. What caused the explosion is the butterfly from whence all other implications will flutter. If it was the Falcon 9’s second stage, that’s bad news for SpaceX, because the second stage propellant is what caused the company’s only other failure—a 2015 rocket that exploded shortly after launch. I probably don’t need to spell out what it would mean for a space launch company to develop a reputation for explosion-prone rockets.

SpaceX announced in January 2013 a deal with Space Communications Ltd. (Spacecom) to launch AMOS-6 into geosynchronous orbit sometime in 2015, which would “provide communication services, including direct satellite home internet for Africa, the Middle East and Europe,” and was built by Israel Aerospace Industries.

As part of its activities in space, the AMOS-6 was going to “provide internet coverage to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa” as part of Facebook’s Internet.org initiatives to increase internet connectivity around the world, according to a posting on the social network by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg, who coincidentally is travelling in Kenya today, posted on Facebook: “I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent.”

5am – D         INTERVIEW — RAY STAGICH — Senior Meteorologist at The Weather Channel

• Hermine Weakens; Could Still Affect DC Area’s Labor Day Weekend. Hermine likely to have big impact at greater D.C. region’s beaches, Storm Team 4 says. Hermine has weakened to a tropical storm as it moves farther inland after making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area as a hurricane. But the storm could still affect your Labor Day weekend plans, with the beaches getting the brunt of the storm. Hermine’s track has moved farther off the coast, but area beaches will still see a huge impact. Rain will start to move into the Northern Neck, southern Maryland and the beaches late Saturday morning and early Saturday afternoon.

5am – E         Metro News:

• Rhode Island Ave. Metro station remains closed for Friday after falling debris.  WASHINGTON — For the second day in a row on Thursday, falling debris has closed the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station in Northeast D.C., and trains will continue to bypass the stop through the close of the station Friday. The station closed for the rest of Thursday night and will remain closed at least through the end of the day on Friday for continued inspections, Metro announced. Free shuttle buses will be available between Rhode Island Avenue and Brookland stations on Friday. In a tweet about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Metro said riders should expect delays on the Red Line in both directions and that shuttle buses would transport riders around the station.  In the latest incident, concrete began falling from the mezzanine of the Metro station about 20 feet away from where a bracket came dislodged and fell onto the platform Wednesday night, a Metro spokeswoman told WTOP. Metro had earlier said in a statement the bolts holding the bracket in place had deteriorated from exposure to the elements and salt used to keep the platform from getting icy. Metro officials said they shored up a similar bracket at the station but that neither were primary supports.
• Fewer people are taking trains and buses across Northern Virginia. Northern Va. sees decrease in public transit ridership. WASHINGTON — Fewer people are taking trains and buses across Northern Virginia, potentially contributing to more traffic on area roads. Metrorail ridership in Northern Virginia is down 6.7 percent — or 7.4 million rides — including the month of June, when round-the-clock track work began. Weekday average ridership for Virginia in June was down 15 percent, more than 50,000 rides, compared with the year before. Only three Metro stations in Virginia saw increases in ridership over the year before, all on the Silver Line in the Tysons area: The Greensboro station saw the highest percentage increase at 5.3 percent, followed by the Tysons Corner station near the malls and McLean.  But Spring Hill and Wiehle-Reston East saw significant declines, down 5.8 percent and 5.9 percent respectively compared to the preceding 12 months.  Combined, the Silver Line stations saw a smaller decline in ridership than other groups of Virginia stations. The three stations at the end of the Orange Line — Dunn Loring, West Falls Church and Vienna — combined for 9.4 percent fewer riders, with the most significant decline at West Falls Church. And Orange Line stations from Ballston to Rosslyn saw 6.5 percent fewer riders, with the smallest decline at Virginia Square and the largest at Clarendon.

6am –A/B/C  Colin Kaepernick kneels during national anthem before 49ers-Chargers game. (Chicago Tribune) – Colin Kaepernick and San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid kneeled during the national anthem Thursday night, continuing the quarterback’s preseason protest of American racial injustice and minority oppression. Kaepernick and Reid dropped to one knee while a naval officer sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and dozens of military members unfurled an oversized flag at the Chargers’ Qualcomm Stadium. Kaepernick received scattered boos when he dropped to a knee, but the protest was otherwise unremarked by the San Diego crowd.  The 49ers’ visit coincided with the annual Salute to the Military preseason game for the Chargers, who have strong fan support in their city’s extensive armed forces community. Kaepernick got much heavier boos when he took the field to start the game for the 49ers and immediately led them on a 16-play, 85-yard touchdown drive. The veteran quarterback is attempting to regain the starting job that he lost last season. Kaepernick’s protest has dominated the public discussion of the nation’s most popular sport this week, and his stance has been met with equally passionate condemnation and support. His refusal to stand for the anthem first came to public notice last week when he remained seated on the 49ers’ bench before a preseason game against Green Bay.

6am – D         Trump tells veterans he’ll rebuild military, ‘clean up’ VA.  A day after Hillary Clinton spoke to the American Legion her rival Donald Trump addressed the veterans’ organization, telling them he will be “uncompromising” in the defense of the US. Discussing his foreign policy, Trump said he “will be uncompromising in the defense of the United States,” and that he will work out a strategy to eliminate radical Islam in co-operation with the Gulf States.  He reiterated his idea of toughening immigration procedures promising to “change immigration screening procedures to help keep terrorists and extremists out of our country. That includes stopping the influx of Syrian refugees.” If elected president, Trump said, he would ensure the military have “the tools they need to defend that flag and to deter violence and aggression from our foreign adversaries.”

6am – E         INTERVIEW – JANICE DEAN “THE WEATHER MACHINE” – Fox News senior meteorologist and author of new book “Freddy the Frogcaster and the Terrible Tornado”

• ABOUT BOOK: Freddy the Frogcaster and the Terrible Tornado Hardcover – April 25, 2016 // by Janice Dean // Get ready for a whirlwind of adventure with Freddy the Frogcaster when a famous storm chaser visits Lilypad! In her fourth book, well-known meteorologist Janice Dean tackles some scary weather. Freddy the Frogcaster is faced with one of the most ferocious and devastating kinds of weather: the tornado.
• Hermine Weakens; Could Still Affect DC Area’s Labor Day Weekend. Hermine likely to have big impact at greater D.C. region’s beaches.

7am – A/B/C   Georgetown to offer slave descendants preferential admission status. In an effort to acknowledge its ties to slavery, Georgetown University will offer the descendants of nearly 300 slaves preferential treatment in its admissions process. In 1838, the school sold 272 slaves who were working on plantations in southern Maryland to pay down its debts. Now, the school said it will give the descendants of those slaves “the same consideration we give members of the Georgetown community” when they apply. That means that the applicants will “receive an extra look” and that their relationship to the university will be considered.  Georgetown President John DeGioia officially recognized the school’s past Thursday afternoon in a press conference. “We must acknowledge that Georgetown participated in the institution of slavery. There were slaves here on the hilltop until emancipation in 1862.” Georgetown will also have a Mass of Reconciliation where it will apologize for its history.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — ALEX ISENSTADT – Politico Reporter

• ALEX ISENSTADT PIECE: Inside Trump Tower: Facing grim reality: Three weeks until early voting, the campaign scrambles to pick a path and stay on it
• Politico reporter KENNETH VOGEL’s report: Bill Clinton aides used tax dollars to subsidize foundation, private email support

7am – E         INTERVIEW — Gary McGrady — FOX 5 Meteorologist

• Hermine Weakens; Could Still Affect DC Area’s Labor Day Weekend
• Hermine likely to have big impact at greater D.C. region’s beaches

8am – A         INTERVIEW — ELIZABETH SCHULTZ – Fairfax County Public School board member – discussed the need for parents to Opt-out on all their Back-to-School forms to avoid the Student Rights & Responsibilities that “use the right pronoun’, the inculcation of things like “sex assigned at birth” etc.

• Obama administration’s transgender agenda hits home in Fairfax County, Virginia. Some parents within Fairfax County are beginning to wake up to the realization that the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are planning to impose radical gender identity practices and supporting “Family Life Education” curriculum changes within the 185K+ school system. Many of these now-aware parents don’t like what they see, including biological boys changing in girls’ locker rooms, showering with girls, competing on their sports teams, and sleeping with them on overnights. They also don’t like the Obama Administration’s illegally applying Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 to transgender students, changing a law originally designed to protect girls to one that will inevitably inflict trauma on girls. And they don’t like FCPS buckling before the federal government’s threat to remove a $42 million subsidy for failure to comply with this misguided policy.
• The board and the school administration are scrambling because many parents now know they don’t have to sign the Students Rights and Responsibilities document.
• The county’s new Student Rights and Responsibilities (SRR) guidelines document that every parent and student is asked to sign. This year “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” have been added to the SRR’s definition of “discrimination harassment.”  Some parents and students are rightly concerned that their refusal to sign this doc, because of their disagreement with these additions to it, won’t be acknowledged respected.

8am – B/C     Q & A INTERVIEW — AMBER SMITH — author of “Danger Close: My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan” and combat

Danger Close: My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan Hardcover – September 6, 2016 by Amber Smith (Author) / The inspiring and riveting first-ever memoir of active combat by a female helicopter pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan. Amber Smith flew into enemy fire in some of the most dangerous combat zones in the world.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — JAMES ROSEN — Fox News Chief Washington Correspondent and author and editor of upcoming book “A Torch Kept Lit by William F. Buckley, Jr.” (Crown, October 2016)

• US-led nuke negotiators allowed inspections loopholes for Iran
• Judicial Watch: New Abedin Emails Reveal Top Clinton Foundation Executive Doug Band Sought Diplomatic Passport from Clinton State Department. Abedin responded to Band request: ‘Ok will figure it out.’

8am – E         ZIKA Travel Concerns:

• What are the symptoms of ZIKV? Symptoms of ZIKV infection may include fever, headache, conjunctivitis, rash, muscle, and joint pain. Other less common symptoms reported include: lack of appetite, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain and dizziness. Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a viral illness transmitted by mosquitoes.
• Can Zika be treated? Zika virus disease is usually relatively mild and requires no specific treatment. People sick with Zika virus should get plenty of rest, drink enough fluids, and treat pain and fever with common medicines. If symptoms worsen, they should seek medical care and advice. There is currently no vaccine available.
• Is there a vaccine for Zika virus? People with Zika virus disease can have symptoms that can include mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. These symptoms normally last for 2-7 days. There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available. The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites.
• Poll: Half of Americans ‘not comfortable’ visiting Florida due to Zika spread. This winter, escape to Florida for the sun, surf and … Zika? With the summer traveling season winding down and the winter high point on the horizon for Florida’s tourism industry, the Sunshine State’s image as a favored destination has been overshadowed by the specter of Zika, according to a national poll released Thursday. The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll for August, conducted Aug. 18-24 among 1,211 American adults, found that 48 percent said they would be “not too” or “not at all” comfortable traveling to places in the United States, like parts of Florida, where people have been infected with Zika by mosquitoes. Three of four surveyed, or 77 percent, said these places are generally unsafe for pregnant women.
• As Zika cases increase, spraying comes to Montgomery County. WASHINGTON — As the number of Zika patients continues grow, truck-mounted mosquito control spraying is scheduled for Thursday evening in the Strawberry Knolls area of Gaithersburg, in Montgomery County, Maryland. Weather permitting, the spraying will begin after 7:30 p.m., and occur between Goshen Road and Pintail Lane, according to Mary Anderson, of Montgomery County’s Department of Health & Human Services. As of Wednesday, the Centers of Disease Control said Maryland had 85 laboratory-confirmed Zika virus disease cases. Virginia had 75  and Washington, D.C. had 11. The spraying is part of the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Mosquito Control Program, to avert a possible public health threat and to prevent serious birth defects associated with mosquito-borne viruses, including Zika and West Nile.
• Zika found in mosquitoes in Miami Beach. (CNN) Mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus have been identified in Miami Beach, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said Thursday. It’s the first finding of Zika-carrying mosquitoes in the continental United States. The three mosquito samples that tested positive were from the area in Miami Beach that was previously identified as an area of local transmission. “This is disappointing but not surprising,” said Adam Putnam, the Florida commissione.