API’s Eric Milito, Jared Meyer, Daily Mail’s Jake Wallis Simons, DC Fiscal Policy Institute’s Ed Lazare, and guest host Scottie Nell Hughes joined WMAL on Wednesday.

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Hosts: Larry O’Connor and Scottie Nell Hughes

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Democrats Are 3 Times More Likely to Unfriend You on Social Media, Survey Says. This year’s bitter presidential election has caused a rift in online relationships. According to a new survey, 13% of Americans reported blocking or unfriending a “friend” on social media because of their political postings. But the results of the study, carried out by the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute, show the impulse to block varies widely based on gender and political leanings. The study shows Democrats were almost three times more likely than Republicans (24% vs. 9%) to have unfriended someone after the election. A similar disparity turned up for self-identified liberals versus conservatives (28% vs. 8%). Meanwhile, only 9% of independents reportedly booted someone out of their online social circles because of politics.

5am – D         ‘It’s Insane!’: Bryant Gumbel Says ‘Technology is Ruining Sports Viewing.’  “Get rid of instant replay.” So says Bryant Gumbel, on an episode of Real Sports set to premiere tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. As part of a roundtable discussion about technology in sports, the HBO personality called for the elimination of replay, and other technological aspects of sports. “In my humble opinion, technology is ruining sports viewing,” Gumbel said. He added, “They stop every two seconds for a replay…they go under the hood for a review…It’s insane.” Gumbel’s take airs two days after a comically bad call in the New York Giants-Detroit Lions game. Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was deemed to have caught a pass which very clearly hit the ground. The completion only went for four yards, so Lions coach Jim Caldwell opted not to challenge it. But it served as a reminder of what football was like before replay. But Gumbel is apparently unmoved by the prospect of egregious officiating errors.

5am – E         DC News:

• DC Council approves generous paid family leave bill; Mayor Bowser says she will not add name to legislation. WASHINGTON – The D.C. Council has given final approval on a bill that would give employees working in D.C. one of the most generous paid family leave in the country. The Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2015 would provide up to eight weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. It also allows six weeks to care for a sick family member. “Today, the District of Columbia fundamentally changed how it treats workers,” said D.C. Councilmember David Grosso (I-At-large), who co-introduced the bill.  “Recognizing that our workers have responsibilities outside of their employment, the Council has voted to relieve them of the difficult choice between a paycheck and caring for a loved one.” The bill calls for D.C. businesses to pay a new tax to fund the family leave, but council members Mary Cheh and Jack Evans put forth a new bill on Monday, which calls on private employers to provide the paid leave on an as needed basis – not through a new tax.
• DC mayor signs ‘Death with Dignity’ bill; now up to Congress. WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to end their own lives with the help of a doctor. The D.C. Council approved the “Death with Dignity” bill in November, and Bowser signed it Monday. The bill would allow patients with six months or less to live to request lethal medication from their doctors. The bill now goes to Congress, which will have 30 days to review it. If Congress doesn’t take action during that time, the bill will take effect.

6am – A/B/C ‘Why doesn’t she give presents to charity?’ Mother is blasted for spending £1,500 on 300 Christmas presents for her children but divides opinion as some SUPPORT her. (Daily Mail) — A mother-of-three quickly divided opinion after admitting to giving her children nearly 300 presents on Christmas Day. Emma Tapping, 28, from the Isle of Man, appeared on This Morning to defend her excessive spending after admitting she has spent £1,500 on gifts for children this year. Many thought it was too extravagant but just as many supported Emma, praising her for doing what she likes with her own money. ‘Why doesn’t she give some of these presents to charity? To show her children to help others! #ThisMorning’ asked one viewer on Twitter. ‘This is terrible just spoiling kids, poor children that can’t have anything #ThisMorning’ added another. ‘This woman is unbelievable! Her poor children are being spoilt rotten! Far too excessive!’ fumed one person.

6am – D         INTERVIEW — ERIK MILITO —  Director of Upstream and Industry Operations for the American Petroleum Institute (API)

• President Obama takes action to bar offshore drilling in areas of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.… particularly how it could impact Virginia drilling.  (CNN) Looking to cement his environmental record, President Barack Obama took new action Tuesday barring offshore drilling in areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans indefinitely. Obama relied on a 63-year-old law to make his moves, which will prevent future leasing of certain offshore areas for oil rights. His successor, Donald Trump, who has promised a policy allowing more US energy production, would face legal challenges if he attempted to reverse Obama’s order. The White House said Obama was declaring the entire US portion of the Chukchi sea and the vast majority of the Beaufort Sea “indefinitely off limits for future oil and gas leasing,” citing critical protection for the marine mammals, ecological resources and native populations. Canada also announced Tuesday that it will freeze its offshore oil and gas exploration in its Arctic waters. The US is also declaring 31 canyons off the Atlantic coast off-limits for drilling, citing “critical and irreplaceable ecological value.”

6am – E         Lena Dunham Apologizes for ‘Distasteful Joke’ About Wishing She’d Had an Abortion. So sorry! Lena Dunham has been forced to explain herself after comments she made about abortion on her Women of the Hour podcast received major backlash. The outspoken Girls star said she had never gone through the turmoil of terminating a pregnancy, but wishes she had, so that she could better advocate abortion rights. She was slammed on Twitter for her comments with people branding her “offensive” and accusing her of trivializing the procedure. So on Tuesday, December 20, the 30-year-old took to Instagram to apologize for her words. “I’m so proud of the medley of voices in the episode. I truly hope a distasteful joke on my part won’t diminish the amazing work of all the women who participated,” she wrote. “My words were spoken from a sort of “delusional girl” persona I often inhabit, a girl who careens between wisdom and ignorance (that’s what my TV show is too) and it didn’t translate. That’s my fault. I would never, ever intentionally trivialize the emotional and physical challenges of terminating a pregnancy.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW — JARED MEYER, Senior Research Fellow, The Foundation for Government Accountability

• Maryland May Force Out Uber and Lyft (American Spectator/By Jared Meyer) — Just in time for the holidays, Maryland residents may be left without Uber and Lyft.  By December 22, state regulators will decide if all for-hire drivers must have fingerprint background checks to work. If fingerprinting is mandated, the companies could cease operations in the state — just as they did in Austin, Texas earlier this year. This is a classic case of policymakers putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk because they watch too much CSI on television. Fingerprint background checks sound secure, but they are unnecessary, ineffective, and discriminatory when misused as a job screening tool.

7am – B         Monopoly launches special helpline to defuse family arguments over Christmas. Within minutes of the game starting there will be disagreement about the rules. Disagreements will swiftly escalate. Voices will be raised. There will be accusations of cheating. Hasbro, the games firm that makes Monopoly, has announced it will be operating a special hotline from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, offering mediation on any game-based arguments. Craig Wilkins, Marketing Director of Hasbro UK & Ireland said: “We’ll have experts on hand with the official rulebooks to instantly settle any disputes, and advice on how to resolve common complaints, with each person also having the opportunity to make a donation to Childline when they call.”

7am – C         Woman making $200 a day selling positive pregnancy tests on Craigslist. JACKSONVILLE, FL (WCMH) — A Florida woman says she’s been making up to $200 a day by selling positive pregnancy tests on Craigslist. The woman, who doesn’t want to be identified, got the idea after looking online for a job she could do while she was pregnant. “$200 in a day off, something I have to do no matter what,” the woman told WJAX-TV. “Me being in college working on a bachelor’s and needing all this money to pay for a degree, this was a no-brainer.” She offers a positive pregnancy test for $30 a pop. WJAX-TV had an intern met up with the woman, and after using the bathroom, she handed over a positive test. The woman said dozens of people contact her to meet up. She said she never asks what they do with the pregnancy tests, but similar ads from other women online advertise it to simply play a prank or as a way to get a guy to pop the question. “I don’t see how you could trap a man,” the woman said.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — JAKE WALLIS SIMONS – Associate Global Editor, Daily Mail Online – located in Berlin – discussed the latest developments on the terror attack in Germany.

• Attack in Berlin: German Police Searching for Tunisian Suspect. DER SPIEGEL has learned that state criminal police in Berlin have found an identification document issued to a Tunisian man in the truck used in Monday night’s attack. A nationwide manhunt is now being conducted to find the suspect. The suspect is also believed to go by two aliases. He apparently switched his identity several times. The Mainz-based Allgemeine Zeitung is reporting that police found a document that had been issued to a 21-year-old Ahmed A. It had been issued in Kleve, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia.

7am – E          Khizr Khan: McAuliffe encouraged me to run for office. Khizr Khan, the father of a fallen Muslim-American soldier who made headlines as a Democratic National Convention speaker this summer, said in a new profile that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) encouraged him to run for office.  But Khan, in an interview with The Guardian published Tuesday, said he’s not interested. “It would limit me,” the political independent said. “Just let me speak.” McAuliffe is a close ally of former president Bill Clinton and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Khan, whose son Army Capt. Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq, took the stage at the convention alongside his wife to challenge then-GOP nominee Donald Trump to study the U.S. Constitution.  His speech sparked continuing criticism from Trump.

8am – A         INTERVIEW — ED LAZERE – (LA-ZEER) — Executive Director, DC Fiscal Policy Institute

• ABOUT: DCFPI seeks to inform public debates on budget and tax issues and to ensure that the needs of low-income residents are considered
• DC Council approves generous paid family leave bill; Mayor Bowser says she will not add name to legislation
• Council votes for expansive paid family and medical leave for private sector workers, to be funded by business tax

8am – B/C     Highlights of Tucker Carlson vs Tariq Nasheed

8am – D         2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class Announced: Inductees Include Tupac, Pearl Jam and Joan Baez. The 2017 inductees for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced Tuesday morning, and this year’s class includes artists from across the genre and generations. Folk legend Joan Baez, progressive rock prototypes Yes, ’70s classical crossovers Electric Light Orchestra, stadium fillers Journey, grunge gods Pearl Jam and rap poet Tupac Shakur all got tapped the join the prestigious order.

In addition, Chic mastermind and master producer Nile Rodgers will receive the Award for Musical Excellence. The 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, April 7, 2017 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. HBO will broadcast the ceremony later in the spring. Read on for more details on this year’s honorees!

8am – E         Mellow drivers? Study says states with medical-marijuana laws have lower traffic fatality rates. States with medical-marijuana laws have fewer traffic fatalities than those without, especially among younger drivers, a new study has found. You would think crash rates might be higher, supposing that more drivers are, too — especially around midnight, when a run to a 7-Eleven becomes necessary. But, no. Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found an 11 percent reduction in traffic fatalities on average when examining places that have enacted medical-marijuana laws — 23 states and the District of Columbia. The presence of medical-marijuana dispensaries also correlated with fewer traffic fatalities, the study found. Silvia Martins, a physician and associate professor who was the study’s senior author, theorized that lower traffic fatality rates in states with marijuana laws might be related to lower levels of alcohol-impaired driving as people, especially younger people, substitute weed for booze.