Joe diGenova, Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer and Daniel Silva joined WMAL on Monday!

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Mornings on the Mall

Monday, July 6, 2015

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Smith

5am – A/B/C             Why Are Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Gaining So Much Traction?

5am – D         Fireworks News:

• Discarded fireworks caused Loudoun July 4 townhouse blaze. Loudoun townhome fire displaces three families, injures one firefighter on the Fourth. UPDATE: Sunday, 7/7/2015, 1 p.m. — Improperly disposed fireworks were determined to be the cause of the fire, that resulted in $700,000 in damages, according to the Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office. The fireworks were not properly extinguished, and were placed in the garage. The fire quickly spread to the rest of the home. EARLIER: Sunday, 7/7/2015, 9:41 a.m. — ALDIE, Va. – A three-story townhouse in the Stone Ridge neighborhood of Loudoun County was severely damaged in a July Fourth fire. Investigators are looking into the possibility that fireworks started the blaze. When firefighters from Dulles South fire station 19 arrived at approximately 11 p.m. the townhome, was engulfed in flames. “Heavy fire was showing on all three levels,” says Assistant Chief Keith Johnson, of Loudoun County Fire and Rescue. A second alarm was quickly sounded, bringing fire units from surrounding jurisdictions to the Stone Ridge community, which is located near Loudoun County Parkway and Braddock Road. Fire trucks and ambulances clogged several blocks of the neighborhood.
• Md. teen suffers burns from illegal fireworks. FALLSTON, Md. (AP) — A 15-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns in Fallston in an explosion involving illegal fireworks. WBAL-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1CUv8SO ) that the teen and her family were watching fireworks on the 1800 block of Brickhouse Lane when a few of them went astray and exploded in front of her. The teen was taken to the Johns Hopkins Hospital Pediatric Burn Unit with serious burns on roughly nine percent of her legs and fingers. The man who discharged the fireworks, which were purchased in Pennsylvania, was issued $500 worth of citations.
• Illegal fireworks suspected in factory, grass fires. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators suspect illegal fireworks sparked a fire that injured four firefighters and caused up to $3 million in damage to three warehouses in South Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials said witnesses reported seeing a group of young men shooting fireworks at mattresses outside one of the warehouses in the Florence area Saturday night. The blaze spread to two other warehouses. Four firefighters suffered minor injuries. Fireworks debris was found at the scene. In Northern California, officials said illegal fireworks may have started a wildfire that burned more than 320 acres and threatened homes in the city of Vacaville, and a grass fire in the Rio Linda area of Sacramento that damaged five outbuildings and 10 cars. One firefighter was hospitalized after suffering a muscular injury in the process.
• Man Shoots off Firework From Top of His Head, Dies Instantly. (AP) — A 22-year-old man who was drinking and celebrating the Fourth of July tried to launch a firework off the top of his head, killing him instantly, authorities said Sunday. Devon Staples and his friends had been drinking and setting off fireworks Saturday night in the backyard of a friend’s home in eastern Maine, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. Staples, 22, of Calais, a small city on the Canadian border, placed a reloadable fireworks mortar tube on his head and told his friends he was going to light it, McCausland said. But his friends urged him to stop. “Apparently, he thought that was a great idea,” McCausland said. “His friends they thought dissuaded him from doing it, and the next thing they knew, he ignited the fireworks and he was killed instantly.” Staples’s brother Cody told the Daily News of New York that he was a few feet away when his brother lit the firework and was the first to come to his side after it exploded. “There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there,” said 25-year-old Cody Staples, who called it an accident.

5am – E         Abby Wambach’s World Cup finale comes with coveted trophy. VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Abby Wambach lifted American coach Jill Ellis after the final whistle. She ran to the stands for a hug from her wife. And then along with Christie Rampone, she became the first American to lift the Women’s World Cup championship trophy in 16 years. It all equated to a World Cup farewell for Wambach that was confusing and surreal, joyous and ultimately satisfying for arguably the greatest American female player. “I literally don’t know how I feel,” Wambach said. “It’s a bizarre thing that is going on right now because of the way it kind of happened.” Wambach played what’s expected to be her final World Cup match on Sunday night when the United States beat Japan 5-2 to claim its first title since 1999. Wambach came on as a sub in the 79th minute after the partisan sold out crowd at BC Place had started to chant her name. By then, this championship was already decided. After being the catalyst, the one scoring the goals for so many years for the United States in the biggest matches, Wambach was “sitting my rear-end on the bench,” during an electric first half where the Americans built a 4-1 lead on the strength of a hat trick from captain Carli Lloyd.

6am – A/B/C More drivers in Va. have been ticketed for passing too close to cyclists since a state law went into effect last year. Enforcement of bicycle passing distance up slightly in Va. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — More drivers in Virginia have been ticketed for passing too close to cyclists since a state law went into effect last year. But the increase has been slight. The law increased the minimum passing distance from 2 feet to 3 feet. Data provided by the Supreme Court of Virginia show police statewide wrote 12 tickets during the law’s first 12 months on the books. That’s up from two tickets during the previous 12 months, The Richmond Times-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1CiOVR3) reported. The law went into effect July 1, 2014. Chesterfield police Lt. Jay Thornton said the law is difficult to enforce. “It’s kind of a situation where if a bicyclist has been run off the road and gets someone’s tag, we can investigate a report,” he told the newspaper.

6am – D/E     Obama and Clinton Blocking Media Access:

• Clinton campaign ropes off reporters at New Hampshire parade. Campaign aides for Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton on Saturday roped off reporters from the candidate as she walked and talked with potential voters during a July Fourth parade in New Hampshire, sparking frustration from the press corps and outrage from the state Republican Party. “Hillary Clinton continues to demonstrate her obvious contempt and disdain for the Granite State’s style of grassroots campaigning,” New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Jennifer Horn said in a statement. “The use of a rope line at a New Hampshire parade is a sad joke and insults the traditions of our first-in-the-nation primary.” Reporters were reportedly allowed to get close to Clinton but were later herded away by campaign aides concerned about crowd control.
• Obama disappears, abandons press corps. President Obama disappeared abruptly without the press pool after spending Sunday golfing at Andrews Air Force Base. He took former Hawaii school mate Mike Ramos, pal Marty Nesbitt, the co-CEO of the Vistria group, ESPN’s Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser with him to the links for approximately six hours of golfing, before abruptly taking off without the waiting press pool. Obama left Andrews AFB at 2:48 p.m. and according to a White House official, returned to the White House at 3:04 p.m. The press pool exists so that news organizations can pool resources and send reporters to events where large number of journalists may not attend. An assigned reporter follows the president and sends out a pool report to the member news organizations.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia – shared his thoughts on Hillary Clinton’s latest released emails, the Benghazi Committee and the laws about bicyclists.

• The House Benghazi Committee has some big decisions looming: (The Hill) — The House Select Committee on Benghazi is entering a crucial month. The GOP-controlled panel has spent the last several weeks ramping up its probe of the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, setting the stage for a slew of important decisions before the August recess. At the top of the list is a potential panel vote over whether to release the deposition of Hillary Clinton friend and adviser Sidney Blumenthal. Panel Democrats have pushed hard to have the transcript of the roughly nine-hour, closed-door meeting made public. They argue that the record will show Republicans asked Blumenthal mostly partisan questions, and few about the siege that killed four Americans.

7am – B         Greece’s Economic Crisis:

• Embattled Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigns. (CNN) – Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s embattled finance minister, has resigned his post, saying the move could help Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reach an agreement with creditors. “I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my … ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement,” Varoufakis wrote in a blog post early Monday. “For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today,” he continued. “I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.” Greece’s Ministry of Finance confirmed his departure in a separate statement.
• Sanders backs Greek voters. “I applaud the people of Greece for saying ‘no’ to more austerity,” he says. (Politico) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders expressed support for Greeks who voted against creditors’ calls for austerity measures in exchange for new loans by widely rejecting such demands on Sunday. “I applaud the people of Greece for saying ‘no’ to more austerity for the poor, the children, the sick and the elderly,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement on his website.
• CNN’s Jake Tapper blasts critics: ‘I can’t help it if the entire Democratic field is white.’ (Washington Examiner) –

Oliver Willis @owilli: @jaketapper @JuddLegum there’s also a huge racial disparity w sunday shows as well *shrug*

Jake Tapper @jaketapper: @owillis @JuddLegum I can’t help it if the entire Democratic field is white. Do I get points for interviewing Cruz, Carson and Rubio? 12:06 PM – 5 Jul 2015

Newly minted host of “State of the Union” Jake Tapper blasted liberal critics on Twitter today who accused the Sunday morning show of a lack of racial diversity. Things got off to a roiling start when Think Progress’ Judd Legum tweeted: “Featured guests on big 5 Sunday shows today (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN): 11 Men 1 Woman.” Tapper responded: “We had two presidential candidates on. The woman running for the Democratic nomination hasn’t sat down to do one Sunday show yet.” “Oh look MMFA now discouraging Sunday shows from booking Bernie,” responded a sarcastic Tapper, referencing Hillary Clinton’s nearest Democratic rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. “My roundtable today was two men and two women.” “There’s also a huge racial disparity w sunday shows as well *shrug*,” tweeted Willis. “I can’t help it if the entire Democratic field is white,” Tapper responded. “Do I get points for interviewing Cruz, Carson and Rubio?”

7am – C        Billy Joel surprises guests at July 4 party — by getting married. (USA Today) — Billy Joel and Alexis Roderick got married Saturday, surprising guests at their annual Fourth of July party. People magazine first reported the wedding. Joel, 66, and Roderick, 33, are expecting a baby this summer. Joel’s daughter Alexa Ray Joel, 29, (also daughter of Christie Brinkley) was in attendance, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo presided over the event, People reports. This is Joel’s fourth marriage.

7am – D         Why Are People, Especially Conservatives, Huge Fans of The Grateful Dead?

• The Grateful Dead Close Out Their Final Concert With Music and the Words ‘Please, Be Kind.’ CHICAGO — There were tears among the tie-dyed and enough hugs to recall Haight-Ashbury at its most loving as the surviving members of the Grateful Dead played their fifth and final “Fare Thee Well” concert on Sunday night at Soldier Field, having vowed it would be their last as a group. The Dead’s “core four” — Phil Lesh on bass, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart handling percussion and Bob Weir on rhythm guitar — embraced and waved from center stage after taking their final bows just before midnight, capping more than three hours of the band’s famously improvisational jams spread across two sets and two encores.
• Grateful Dead fans: Surprisingly Republican. (Washington Post) — The Grateful Dead are playing the final show of their “Fare Thee Well” Tour on Sunday in Chicago, and if that means anything to you, you’re more likely a Republican than a Democrat. What? America’s pioneering jam band is more a Republican thing than a Democratic one? Well, kinda. A poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and the Mellman Group found the band has a 46 percent hard name ID (i.e. whether people can judge it favorably or unfavorably) among Republicans, compared with 37 percent among Democrats, and 35 percent among independents. It seems a little counter-intuitive that a band so often tied to drug use and tie dye is better known among members of the party largely opposed to legalizing marijuana. (Only 39 percent of Republicans or those who lean Republican support it, compared with 64 percent of Democrats or those who lean Democratic, according to Gallup.)
• Barack Obama Pens Tribute to ‘Iconic’ Grateful Dead. “Enjoy this weekend’s celebration of your fans and legacy. And as Jerry [Garcia] would say, ‘Let there be songs to fill the air,'” president writes. (Rolling Stone) — “Here’s to fifty years of the Grateful Dead, an iconic American band that embodies the creativity, passion and ability to bring people together that makes American music so great,” Obama wrote. “Enjoy this weekend’s celebration of your fans and legacy. And as Jerry [Garcia] would say, ‘Let there be songs to fill the air,'” a nod to American Beauty’s “Ripple.” The presidential message, as well as a photo of the Dead’s Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and their respective families with the President during an Oval Office visit in 2009, reportedly appeared on the cover of Friday’s Fare Thee Well program, Relix writes.

7am – E         Sports News:

• Abby Wambach’s World Cup finale comes with coveted trophy. VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Abby Wambach lifted American coach Jill Ellis after the final whistle. She ran to the stands for a hug from her wife. And then along with Christie Rampone, she became the first American to lift the Women’s World Cup championship trophy in 16 years. It all equated to a World Cup farewell for Wambach that was confusing and surreal, joyous and ultimately satisfying for arguably the greatest American female player.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins rain-delayed Daytona ahead of Austin Dillon’s crash. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A horrific last-lap accident that left drivers fearing for Austin Dillon’s safety muted Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s victory in the rain-delayed race at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt crossed the finish line at 2:41 am Monday morning filled with dread after Dillon’s car sailed upside down into the fence then shot back onto the track. The car was on its roof and mangled when it was hit hard by Brad Keselowski. The car tore down a section of fencing, debris scattered into the grandstands, and crew members from several teams raced to check on Dillon. A stunned Earnhardt seemed speechless as he crossed the finish line.
• Zimmermann leads Nats to sweep of Giants. (Washington Post) — A muggy weekend in early July does not avenge a few chilly October evenings, the memories irrelevant and the outcomes unrelated. Baseball seasons are too long, rosters too fluid and injuries too fickle to allow an autumn grudge to find satisfying resolution in the middle of summer. But when the Washington Nationals beat the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants, 3-1, on Sunday night to sweep a Fourth of July weekend series, they stepped forward. With wins in three games played in front of large holiday crowds and national television audiences, the Nationals moved 10 games over .500 for the first time all season — two weeks before they reached that mark on their way to 96 wins last season.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – LT COL TONY SHAFFER – a CIA trained former senior intelligence officer and the New York Times bestselling author of Operation “Dark Heart: Spycraft an Special Operations on the Frontlines of Afghanistan – And The Path to Victory.”

• Iran nuclear talks: John Kerry says ‘hard choices’ needed. US Secretary of State John Kerry says “hard choices” are needed if a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme is to be made by Tuesday’s deadline. Mr Kerry warned that the two sides were “not where we need to be on several of the most difficult issues”. His Iranian counterpart said “still nothing is clear”, as ministers were set to continue talks in Vienna. Six world powers and Iran extended the deadline to Tuesday, after missing an earlier self-imposed cut-off point.

8am – B         4^th of July News:

• Caitlyn Jenner posts inspirational Independence Day message on Instagram. Hot dogs, ballgames, festive outfits and fireworks galore — all good, all-American things, but we think Caitlyn Jenner has hit the nail on the head with her inspirational Independence Day Instagram post: “Happy 4th of July! Proud to be an American … where at least I am free to be me,” she wrote alongside a photo of an American flag.
• Matt Stonie beats Joey Chestnut to win Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. New York (CNN) Down goes Chestnut. Long live the “Megatoad.” For the first time in nearly a decade, the world’s hot dog king is someone not named Joey Chestnut. Matthew “Megatoad” Stonie devoured 62 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes at Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York on Saturday, beating longtime champion Chestnut’s tally of 60 and winning his first mustard yellow belt. “Today I claimed a belt that hasn’t changed hands in 8 years. 62 Hot Dogs in ten minutes. #Happy4thJuly,” Stonie tweeted Saturday afternoon. At 5-foot-8 and 130 pounds, Stonie beat his own record of 56 from last year’s contest.

8am – C         ‘Terminator,’ ‘Magic Mike’ fizzle at July 4th box office. NEW YORK (AP) — July 4th went off like a dud at the box office. Anticipated new releases “Magic Mike XXL” and “Terminator Genisys” fizzled, leaving the popular holdovers “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out” to top the holiday weekend. Despite the brawny enticements of Channing Tatum and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the four-week rule of Universal’s dinosaur sensation “Jurassic World” continued with an estimated $30.9 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Pixar’s acclaimed “Inside Out” nearly caught up to the runaway dinos, taking in $30.1 million in its third weekend of release.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – DANIEL SILVA – New York Times bestselling author of new book “The English Spy”

• HIS BOOK SIGNING EVENT THIS WEEK: Thursday, July 9, 2015 • 7:00pm at The Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills, Maryland
• Former CNN producer and creator of seventeen #1 N.Y. Times bestselling novels, Daniel Silva has been called his generation’s finest writer of international intrigue and a “world-class practitioner of spy fiction” (Washington Post).
• First there was The English Assassin. Then The English Girl. Now The English Spy promises a thrilling ride you will never forget! Silva is one of America’s finest writer of international intrigue and one of the greatest spy novelists in our history. Compelling, passionate, haunting, brilliant — these are the words that have been used to describe the work of award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva. Silva burst onto the scene in 1997 with his electrifying bestselling debut, The Unlikely Spy, a novel of love and deception set around the Allied invasion of France in World War II. Since then, all of Silva’s books have been New York Times and international bestsellers. His books have been translated in to more than 30 languages and are published around the world. His novels include The Mark of the Assassin, The Marching Season, The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, and Prince of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules, The Defector, The Rembrandt Affair, Portrait of a Spy, The Fallen Angel, and The English Girl.