James Carafano, Roger Stone, Nonie Darwish and Larry Kudlow joined WMAL on Tuesday morning!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Should We Just Let An Investigation Happen About Russia?

– ‘A Special Prosecutor for What?’: Spicer Dismisses Call for New Russia Probe

5am – D         DAWN OF SPACE TOURISM: MUSK TRIP AROUND MOON. SpaceX will fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon in 2018, the company’s founder Elon Musk announced Monday (Feb. 27). The private spaceflight company will use its Falcon Heavy rocket to send the two paying passengers into space aboard one of the company’s Dragon spacecraft. The two private citizens, who have not yet been named, approached SpaceX about taking a trip around the moon, and have “already paid a significant deposit” for the cost of the mission, according to a statement from the company. The names of the two individuals will be announced later, pending the result of initial health tests to ensure their fitness for the mission, the statement said.  “Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration,” SpaceX representatives said in the statement.   The two passengers will be the only people on board what is expected to be about a weeklong trip around the moon, according to Musk, who spoke with reporters during a phone conference today. “This would be a long loop around the moon … It would skim the surface of the moon, go quite a bit further out into deep space and then loop back to Earth,” Musk said during the teleconference. “So I’m guessing, distance-wise, maybe [300,000] or 400,000 miles [about 500,000 to 650,000 kilometers].”

5am – E         Voting rights group attorney: Trump administration says it will no longer challenge Texas’ strict voter ID law.  Feds rescind opposition to key part of Texas voter ID law. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department said Monday it is abandoning its longstanding opposition to a key aspect of Texas’ toughest-in-the-nation voter ID law, costing voting rights groups their most important ally and possibly encouraging other conservative states to toughen their own election rules with President Donald Trump in charge. It’s a dramatic break from the agency’s position under President Barack Obama, which spent years arguing that the voter ID law passed in 2011 by Texas’ Republican-controlled Legislature was intended to disenfranchise poor and minority voters. “It’s a complete 180,” said Danielle Lang of the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center. “We can’t make heads or tails of any factual reason for the change. There has been no new evidence that’s come to light.” The law requires voters to show one of seven forms of state-approved photo identification — gun permits are acceptable but college IDs are not. Voting rights activists sued, and the case returns to court Tuesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, before U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos. Justice Department spokesman Mark Abueg said that although the Justice Department will no longer argue that the law was intended to discriminate against minorities, it doesn’t plan to withdraw from a portion of the lawsuit that argues that the law had the effect of discriminating against them. The “intent” versus “effect” distinction is important since the former is still being argued before Gonzales Ramos.

6am – A/B/C CBP using mobile fingerprint scanners at Atlanta airport. As part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) border security mission, the agency is deploying new technologies to verify travelers’ identities – both when they arrive and when they leave the United States – by matching a traveler to the document they are presenting. CBP’s goal is to enhance national security and protect a traveler’s identity against theft through the use of biometrics. Biometric information (such as finger, face, or iris) measures a person’s unique physical characteristics. CBP incorporated fingerprints for biometric identification and verification in 2004, and is now testing facial and iris imaging capabilities to help improve travelers’ identity protection, the integrity of our immigration system, and our national security.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – JAMES “JIM” CARAFANO – Vice President for the Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at The Heritage Foundation

• Pentagon sends ISIS options to White House.  (CNN) The Pentagon has sent President Donald Trump what it calls a “preliminary framework” for options to ramp up the US battle against ISIS, in a plan he requested in order to make good on his campaign vow to crush the extremist group. Trump called for the new blueprint to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq a month ago, and the document details possible military, diplomatic and financial measures to increase US engagement in the campaign, a US official said.
• Trump budget seeks to give Pentagon $54 billion extra.  President Donald Trump will seek to boost Pentagon spending by $54 billion in his first budget proposal and cut the same amount from non-defense spending, including a large reduction in foreign aid, a White House budget official said on Monday.

6am – E         California high school abandons annual auction of senior. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California high school is abandoning an annual fundraising auction to buy a senior for a day after classmates said they consider the practice insensitive and “all-around wrong.” The Sacramento Bee reported Monday that an African-American senior launched a petition to end the practice at John F. Kennedy High School, noting February is Black History Month. Senior Lamari Johnson says her ancestors fought against slavery and the idea of buying a human is wrong. The event raised money for the school’s senior ball. It was held Feb. 9. The fundraiser allowed students to pay for a senior to carry a backpack all day or do other chores. Principal David Van Natten says he decided last week to end the tradition after hearing concerns from Johnson and others.

6am – F         Trump’s first D.C. dinner as president: An overcooked, $54 steak. With ketchup. (Washington Post) — Donald Trump ventured less than a mile from the White House to the 263-room hotel that bears his name, where he supped with family members and politicos at BLT Prime by David Burke, a steakhouse. Also: Trump ordered a strip steak, which he ate per his preference, well-done and with ketchup, as if the entree would be accompanied by a sippy cup. (Insert a moment of silence for the cow, the condiment and what most chefs would call a forced marriage. Really, I feel the same way about masking the flavor of a $54 dry-aged steak as I do about guys who wear baseball caps indoors: Just don’t. And pity the new kitchen lead, chef de cuisine Brian Drosenos, who had to deal with the ultimate VIP in his first week on the job.) For real, Mr. President? In a market where residents can practically point to a spot on a globe and find a nearby dining room that serves its cuisine? In a city where some of the country’s best contemporary Greek, Indian and, hello, even American restaurants are about as close to your door as the steakhouse in the Trump International Hotel? (Not that the president has to wait in traffic.)

7am – A         INTERVIEW — ROGER STONE –  New York Times bestselling author,  a political veteran of ten Republican presidential campaigns and an adviser to President Nixon, Reagan, and Trump —  and author of new book “The Making of the President 2016: How Donald Trump Orchestrated a Revolution” – talked about his new book and preview the president’s joint session speech Tuesday night.

7am – B         Wendy’s Plans Self-Ordering Kiosks at 1,000 Locations.  OHIO — (AP) Wendy’s says it plans to install self-ordering kiosks at about 1,000 locations by the end of the year. Wendy’s chief information officer, David Trimm, says the kiosks are intended to appeal to younger customers and reduce labor costs. Kiosks also allow customers of the fast food giant to circumvent long lines during peak dining hours while increasing kitchen production. Trim estimates the company will see a return on its investment in less than two years. Kiosks already have been installed at several central Ohio locations, where the company first tested the technology.

7am – C         Kellyanne Conway puts feet on Oval Office couch; Twitter freaks. (USA Today) – Social media erupted Monday night after Kellyanne Conway, a White House senior adviser, was pictured kneeling on the Oval Office couch to snap a photo of President Trump with leaders of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities. The moment sparked an array of emotions from all sides of the viral spectrum.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — NONIE DARWISH (KNOW-NEE DAR-WISH) — human rights activist and director of Former Muslims United. She is the author of the new book: “Wholly Different: Why I Chose Biblical Values Over Islamic Values.”

• BACKGROUND: Growing up devout Muslim in Cairo and Gaza, father was an Islamic martyr, Nonie immigrated to the United States and was introduced to Biblical values for the first time, converted to Christianity

7am – E         Transportation News:

• Did you see that? Rockville’s 209 mph electric car. WASHINGTON — A Rockville, Maryland, company has set out to prove electric cars can be high-end performance cars, and it’s proving it, even if the price for consumer entry is unreachable for most. Genovation Cars said on Feb. 16, its highly-modified all electric Corvette, called the GXE, reached a top speed of 209 mph at Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds at Space Florida’s Shuttle Landing Facility. The GXE is the only street-legal electric vehicle to have certified speeds of more than 200 mph. Genovation will sell the car to the public,  but the price tag will be around $750,000. It is taking preorders for just 75 of the GXE models. A $250,000 deposit is required.
• DC Streetcar hits 1-year milestone: Yay or Nay? The system cost around $200 million to build and two years of testing before it could finally accept passengers along the 2-mile stretch of track.  WASHINGTON — Monday marks one year since the D.C. Streetcar began accepting passengers on its route through the H Street Corridor. “It’s doing what we expect it to do, and we are really excited about it,” said Terry Owens, spokesman with the District Department of Transportation. According to DDOT, service has been expanded on the line to seven days a week in the last year, up from six days at the start of 2016. Owens said ridership also continues to grow, with an average 2,700 people using the system daily. The system cost around $200 million to build and two years of testing before it could finally accept passengers along the two-mile stretch of track. Right now, riding the streetcar is free, and DDOT doesn’t expect to begin charging riders for at least four years as the system is expanded. It will be years before money from fares can go toward paying for the operation, but Owens said charging passengers now could lead to decreased ridership. “We think the system is already paying for itself — it’s provided a new transit option for people in this part of town; it has also spurred economic development along the H Street Corridor,” Owens said.

8am – A/B/C Md. senate nixes opt-out bill on school animal dissections

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland Senate has cut down a bill that would have allowed students to opt out of animal dissections. The measure brought a spirited debate during the senate’s session Monday night before it was rejected. Sen. Ron Young, a Frederick County Democrat, says animal dissections are no longer necessary. He also says alternative methods are cheaper, and 18 other states allow students to opt out. But Sen. Nancy King, a Montgomery County Democrat, says local school boards can address the issue better than state lawmakers. Republican Sen. Stephen Hershey, of the Upper Shore, noted that the measure required school officials to come up with alternative plans, just two months after the bill would have taken effect in July. Only 13 senators voted for the bill. Thirty senators voted against it.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — LARRY KUDLOW – CNBC Senior Contributor and host of The Larry Kudlow Show on WMAL Saturdays at 7 pm and author of “JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity” – shared his thoughts on the president’s address tonight and budget proposals.

8am – E         Senator Udall Floats Plan to Confirm Gorsuch, Garland to SCOTUS Together: Udall Floats Plan to Confirm Gorsuch, Garland to SCOTUS Together. WASHINGTON — (CNN) Sen. Tom Udall has an idea that could place both Judge Neil Gorsuch and Judge Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court at the same time. The Democrat from New Mexico presented the plan Monday morning to Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, as well as to Gorsuch’s team of White House aides and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who’s been attending Gorsuch’s meetings with senators. His proposal is for Trump to meet privately with Supreme Court justices who are interested in retirement. If one of those justices decided they would be willing to retire, and if Trump promises to nominate Garland, President Barack Obama’s unconfirmed former SCOTUS pick, in their place, then the retiring justice would submit a letter of resignation contingent on that promise. Then, both Garland and Gorsuch would be voted on simultaneously.