Morgan Wright, Joy Siegel, Rod Wheeler and Francesca Chambers joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Mary Walter

 

5am – A/B/C   Report: Trump shared secret info about IS with Russians. (Fox News) – WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump revealed highly classified information about Islamic State militants to Russian officials during a meeting last week, The Washington Post reported Monday, prompting strong condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans. Three White House officials who were in the May 10 meeting strongly denounced the story, saying no intelligence sources and methods were discussed — but they didn’t deny that classified information was disclosed. Citing current and former U.S. officials, the Post said Trump shared details about an Islamic State terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. The anonymous officials told the Post that the information Trump relayed during the Oval Office meeting had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement. They said it was considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government.

National Security Advisor McMaster DENIES Trump leaked ‘highly classified’ information to the Russians about ISIS laptop threat during Oval Office meeting – the day after he fired FBI director Comey. (Daily Mail) – President Trump’s National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster pushed back on a report that said his boss had shared ‘highly classified’ information with top Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week. ‘The story that came out tonight is false,’ McMaster told a pack of reporters gathered outside the West Wing.   Trump passed on the highly restricted ‘code word’ information during an Oval Office meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, the Washington Post reported Monday afternoon.  ‘This is code-word information,’ a U.S. official told the paper, referring to the top classification level. The president ‘revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.’ McMaster forcefully disputed the report – although his denial stated the thrust of the Post story to be different than the story that the paper published.

5am – D/E     Violence And Intimidation Against Republicans Are Becoming The New Normal (Daily Caller) – Violence and intimidation against Republicans are quickly becoming the new normal in an increasingly tense political climate. In one of the most recent incidents, police in Tennessee charged a woman with felony reckless endangerment on Thursday for allegedly trying to run Republican Congressman David Kustoff off the road after a town hall. The woman, Wendi Wright, was reportedly enraged over Kustoff’s support for the American Health Care Act and screamed at the congressman and his aide, striking his car windows and reaching inside the vehicle. The same day that Tennessee police charged Wright for reckless endangerment, police in North Dakota escorted an enraged man from another town hall after he became physical with Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer over his support for the GOP Obamacare replacement. “Will the rich benefit from, if the health care is destroyed, do the rich get a tax break? Yes or no?” the man shouted, before shoving cash down the congressman’s collar. “There you go, take it.” CNN’s Poppy Harlow downplayed the incident, saying the man was “showing his disgust” with Cramer.

6am – A/B/C Report: Trump shared secret info about IS with Russians. (Fox News) – WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump revealed highly classified information about Islamic State militants to Russian officials during a meeting last week, The Washington Post reported Monday, prompting strong condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans. Three White House officials who were in the May 10 meeting strongly denounced the story, saying no intelligence sources and methods were discussed — but they didn’t deny that classified information was disclosed. Citing current and former U.S. officials, the Post said Trump shared details about an Islamic State terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. The anonymous officials told the Post that the information Trump relayed during the Oval Office meeting had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement. They said it was considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government.           

National Security Advisor McMaster DENIES Trump leaked ‘highly classified’ information to the Russians about ISIS laptop threat during Oval Office meeting – the day after he fired FBI director Comey. (Daily Mail) – President Trump’s National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster pushed back on a report that said his boss had shared ‘highly classified’ information with top Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week. ‘The story that came out tonight is false,’ McMaster told a pack of reporters gathered outside the West Wing.

6am – D         Family’s private investigator: There is evidence Seth Rich had contact with WikiLeaks prior to death. (Fox 5 DC) — WASHINGTON – It has been almost a year since Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered in the nation’s capital. There have been no solid answers about why he was killed until now. Rich was shot and killed last July in Northwest D.C and police have suggested the killing in the District’s Bloomingdale neighborhood was a botched robbery. However, online conspiracy theories have tied the murder to Rich’s work at the DNC. Just two months shy of the one-year anniversary of Rich’s death, FOX 5 has learned there is new information that could prove these theorists right.amily’s private investigator: There is evidence Seth Rich had contact with WikiLeaks prior to death. Rod Wheeler, a private investigator hired by the Rich family, suggests there is tangible evidence on Rich’s laptop that confirms he was communicating with WikiLeaks prior to his death. Now, questions have been raised on why D.C. police, the lead agency on this murder investigation for the past ten months, have insisted this was a robbery gone bad when there appears to be no evidence to suggest that. Wheeler, a former D.C. police homicide detective, is running a parallel investigation into Rich’s murder. He said he believes there is a cover-up and the police department has been told to back down from the investigation. “The police department nor the FBI have been forthcoming,” said Wheeler.

6am – E     ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ returning for 18-day online run. If the idea of Monday morning seems too tough to bear, look forward to traveling back in time as “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” returns. The online streaming platform Twitch will air every episode – all 886 episodes — of the beloved PBS show over an 18-day period, starting Monday, May 15. The stream is available here, starting at 2 p.m. Central time on May 15. Variety reported the stream will begin with footage of Fred Rogers testifying before a Senate committee about the value of public television. The marathon to follow will include many episodes that only aired once and are unavailable elsewhere online. Variety added the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” marathon will include a set of emojis that viewers can use in the live chat while they watch. Variety noted, “The emotes — for King Friday, Queen Sara, X the Owl, and the Trolley that takes viewers to the puppet-populated Neighborhood of Make-Believe — will be available to users who subscribe to the Twitch “Mister Rogers” channel.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW — MORGAN WRIGHT- Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government, former executive at Cisco & Alcatel-Lucent and former senior advisor for the US Department of State Antiterrorism Assistance Program — discussed the cyberattack and the new developments of the DNC staffer murder.

7am – B         New school in Portland teaches millennials how to ‘adult.’ PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) – The Adulting School in Portland, Maine opened up in November 2016. Co-founders Rachel Weinstein and Katie Brunelle say it can best be described as a modern-day home economics class. The school caters to people who are 21 years or older. Weinstein and Burnelle say while typically people assume it’s the parents’ job to teach their children basic life skills, that’s not always the case for everyone. They’ve created the school to show people they’re not alone. Instead of being stressed out over something, they invite everyone together to learn about problems they’re having and how to solve them. To pick up where those schools, parents or guardians may have left off, the Adulting School focuses on six topics. “Bills, social life, not being a kid, I don’t know – it’s a concept you’re not ever really taught about,” Courtney Greenwood, a millennial, said. It’s a new education concept some millennials are interested in.

7am – C         Crust in time! Committed pizza boy leaps over streams and climbs embankments to get food to a ‘hangry’ passenger stuck on an Amtrak train (Daily Mail) – A hungry passenger got a pizza delivered to a stalled Amtrak train after it ground to halt between New York and Washington DC.  Mitch Katz was on the train on Sunday which was scheduled to arrive in Washington DC just after 5pm when it stopped due to a technical fault.  Having spent an hour stationary on the tracks, and with nothing from the train’s cafe taking his fancy, Mr Katz dialled up a local pizza company and a committed delivery man negotiated the embankment and water to deliver the hot meal.  The co-founder of a wealth management company managed to capture the delivery on video.  In it, a pizza boy dressed in a red shirt and carrying a matching red bag can be seen walking alongside the train having hopped over a stream to get to his customer.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – JOY SIEGEL – real estate attorney, who’s also seen an increasing number of sales contracts collapse due to TOPA. SHe is also president of Siegel & Associates, General Counsel.

• TOPA LAW: Some D.C. Renters Make Tens of Thousands of Dollars Exploiting Decades-Old Law

7am – E         Woman unknowingly wore her engagement ring hidden in necklace for a year (ABC News) — An Australian woman was surprised to learn that her boyfriend had tricked her into carrying around her engagement ring in her necklace for more than a year. Anna and Terry, a couple in Tasmania, Australia, had been dating for one year when she received the necklace as a gift. “I had always loved the idea of giving someone a gift where they didn’t know its true value until years later,” Terry told ABC News. Terry gifted Anna what he described as a “spiral shell” necklace made from Huon Pine. She wore it every day, and everywhere we went, and pretty much never took it off,” Terry gushed. He did at times worry about his girlfriend’s necklace — for instance, “when we went though airport security for the first time,” Terry recalled. Still, she had no idea what was really inside until more than a year later. The travel-loving couple decided to trek to Smoo Cave, located in Durness, Scotland, in April. That’s when Terry finally decided to tell Anna what had been hidden in her beloved necklace.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – ROD WHEELER – former DC homicide investigator

• Seth Rich, slain DNC staffer, had contact with WikiLeaks, say multiple sources. (Fox 5) — The Democratic National Committee staffer who was gunned down on July 10 on a Washington, D.C., street last July just steps from his home had leaked thousands of internal emails to WikiLeaks, law enforcement sources told Fox News. A federal investigator who reviewed an FBI forensic report detailing the contents of DNC staffer Seth Rich’s computer generated within 96 hours after his murder, said Rich made contact with Wikileaks through Gavin MacFadyen, a now-deceased American investigative reporter, documentary filmmaker, and director of WikiLeaks who was living in London at the time. “My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks.” “I have seen and read the emails between Seth Rich and Wikileaks,” the federal investigator told Fox News, confirming the MacFadyen connection. He said the emails are in possession of the FBI, while the stalled case is in the hands of the Washington Police Department.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – FRANCESCA CHAMBERS – White House Correspondent at Daily Mail.com

• Report: Trump shared secret info about IS with Russians. (Fox News) – WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump revealed highly classified information about Islamic State militants to Russian officials during a meeting last week, The Washington Post reported Monday, prompting strong condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans. Three White House officials who were in the May 10 meeting strongly denounced the story, saying no intelligence sources and methods were discussed — but they didn’t deny that classified information was disclosed. Citing current and former U.S. officials, the Post said Trump shared details about an Islamic State terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.
• National Security Advisor McMaster DENIES Trump leaked ‘highly classified’ information to the Russians about ISIS laptop threat during Oval Office meeting – the day after he fired FBI director Comey. (Daily Mail) – President Trump’s National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster pushed back on a report that said his boss had shared ‘highly classified’ information with top Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week. ‘The story that came out tonight is false,’ McMaster told a pack of reporters gathered outside the West Wing.

8am – D/E     Death spiral for cars. By 2030, you probably won’t own one

By 2030, you probably won’t own a car, but you may get a free trip with your morning coffee. Transport-As-A-Service will use only electric vehicles and will upend two trillion-dollar industries. It’s the death spiral for cars. A major new report predicts that by 2030, the overwhelming majority of consumers will no longer own a car – instead they will use on-demand electric autonomous vehicles. By 2030, within 10 years of regulatory approval of autonomous electric vehicles (A-EVs), the report says, 95 per cent of all US passenger miles traveled will be served by on-demand, autonomous, electric vehicles that will be owned by fleets rather than individuals. The provision of this service may come virtually free as part of another offering, or a corporate sponsorship. Imagine, for instance, paying a token sum for a ride into town after buying a latte for $4.50. Or getting a free ride because the local government has decided to make transport easier.