Bike advocate Brice Deming, Peter Brookes, Montgomery Council President Nancy Floreen, Bret Baier and guest host Susan Ferrechio joined WMAL on Friday!
Mornings on the Mall
Friday, May 20, 2016
Hosts: Brian Wilson and guest Susan Ferrechio
Executive Producer: Heather Hunter
5am – A Q & A with Susan Ferrechio about Congress:
How Senate Democrats are trying to deal with Sanders. Senate Democrats discussed how to handle Bernie Sanders and his supporters at a private caucus meeting on Tuesday. The lawmakers met in a closed-door session days after Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was shouted down at the Nevada Democratic convention, an incident that shook Democrats and raised fears about a chaotic fight at the party’s upcoming national convention that might cost the party the White House. Democrats in the room decided the best course would be to let Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) handle the delicate task of talking to Sanders about the increasingly negative tone of supporters of his presidential bid, according to sources familiar with what happened at the meeting.
House Members Quarrel Over LGBT Amendment Vote For Defense Bill. (Daily Caller) — WASHINGTON — House Republicans and Democrats found themselves in a loud floor fight Thursday morning over an LGBT amendment Democrats wanted to include in the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday night. The original amendment, proposed by Washington Democratic Rep. Adam Smith , would have removed a measure on religious liberty that opponents say would remove LGBT workplace protections for contractors. The provision in the defense bill says that religious businesses, associations and institutions receiving federal contracts cannot be discriminated against on the basis of religion. By Friday morning, New York Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, an openly gay member of Congress, proposed a similar amendment to the defense bill. Maloney’s amendment would have prohibited funds to go to any business contractor who did not comply with President Obama’s executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT personnel. “This is one of the ugliest episodes I’ve experienced in my three-plus years as a member of this House,” Maloney said when he proposed the amendment.
5am – B 2016 News:
Trump leads Clinton by 5 points in Rasmussen poll. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has increased his lead over Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday. Trump now leads Clinton by 5 percentage points, 42 to 37 percent. The poll also found that 13 percent of respondents prefer another candidate and 7 percent were undecided. The new poll differs somewhat from recent polling, which shows Clinton holding a slim lead. According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Clinton has a 3.9-point lead over Trump, 46.2 to 42.3 percent. But Trump led a Fox News national poll released Wednesday by 3 points.
Fox News Poll: Voters trust Trump on economy, Clinton on foreign policy, nuclear weapons. Fox News poll: Donald Trump snatches lead from Hillary Clinton. He bests Clinton by 12 points on both the economy (53-41 percent) and terrorism (52-40 percent). The poll, released Thursday, was conducted prior to news of an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo crashing in the Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile, Clinton has the edge on social issues (+12 points), education (+10), foreign policy (+10), health care (+3), and immigration (+2).
Fox News poll: Donald Trump snatches lead from Hillary Clinton. Washington (CNN)Donald Trump holds a slight lead over Hillary Clinton — 45% to 42% — among registered voters, according to a new national Fox News poll. The lead is within the poll’s 3-point margin of error, but could reflect growing support for the presumptive Republican nominee as the likely Democratic nominee, Clinton, remains mired in a contentious primary fight with rival Bernie Sanders.
5am – C Poll: 9 in 10 Native Americans not offended by Redskins name. NEW YORK (AP) — A recent national poll found that nine of 10 Native Americans aren’t offended by the Washington Redskins name. The poll conducted by the Washington Post indicated more than eight in 10 said they wouldn’t be offended if someone who was not a Native American called them that name. A federal judge ordered the cancellation of the Washington Redskins’ trademark registration in July, ruling that their name may be disparaging to Native Americans. The club is appealing. Ninety percent of the random national sample of 504 Native Americans said the name doesn’t bother them; 9 percent said it was offensive. Native Americans make up about 2 percent of the U.S. population.
5am – D Local high school student returns missing dog to couple, receives $10K reward. Student returns missing dog to couple, receives $10K reward. WASHINGTON (AP) — A high school student has returned a missing puppy to a man who was a spokesman for former House Speaker John Boehner. The 4-month-old Boston Terrier named Maggie belongs to Michael Steel and his wife, who offered $10,000 for the dog’s return. Eighteen-year-old Rasheeda Smith returned the dog to the Washington couple Wednesday night after seeing television reports that the pet was missing.
5am – E EgyptAir flight MS804: Egyptian search team says it has found debris and personal belongs from missing plane and is now looking for black box. EgyptAir Flight 804: Parts of plane wreckage found, Egypt military says. Egyptian armed forces say they found debris from EgyptAir Flight 804 in the Mediterranean on Friday, according to military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Samir. Passenger belongings and parts of the aircraft were found 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of the coastal city of Alexandria, according to a statement from the armed forces.
6am – A/B/C Wash the DC Guard In The Right or Wrong?
DC Guard Charged With Assault For Confronting Trans Woman In Bathroom. Police in northeast Washington, D.C. charged a security guard with assault on Wednesday after she physically forced a transgender woman out of a grocery store women’s bathroom, local TV station WRC reported. Ebony Belcher, 32, told the news outlet that a female security followed her into the restroom of a Giant grocery store and told her to leave the store. “She opened the door and came in and started calling me derogatory names,” Belcher said. The guard then grabbed her by the shoulder and arm and pushed her out of the store, Belcher told WRC.
DC law protects transgender people’s choice of bathrooms. WASHINGTON — The ever-growing national discussion about the rights of transgender people and their use of public bathrooms has made its way to the nation’s capital. Yesterday, a security guard was arrested for allegedly forcing a transgender woman from a grocery store restroom. The transgender community said she has a right to use the facility. “This individual was just trying to use the bathroom,” said Joanna Cifredo, racial and economic justice policy analyst for the National Center for Transgender Equality. “They weren’t breaking the law.” The law says no company can tell a customer which bathroom to use, and it’s law that all single-stall bathrooms are gender neutral, Cifredo said. The woman is protected under the D.C. Human Rights Act, said Arthur Spitzer, legal director for the city’s American Civil Liberties Union.
6am – D INTERVIEW — BRUCE DEMING – aka “The Bike Lawyer” and advocate for bicyclists
Bike To Work Day Returns On Friday
Get in Gear: Bike to Work Week Has Arrived. The number of people who choose to live in DC and forgo their cars to get around by other means is sizable. In addition to walking, bicycles are an increasingly common sight. So city cyclists, we salute you. And you should be happy: lots of things are coming for your benefit. Bike to Work Week has arrived, and the big day is coming: Bike to Work Day is this Friday, May 20th. On this upcoming TGIF, Commuter Connections and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association are partnering together to bring refreshments an
6am – E Egypt Air Update:
EgyptAir plane wreckage found, military say. (CNN) Military forces found wreckage from an EgyptAir flight that crashed in the Mediterranean with 66 people aboard, the military said. Parts of the aircraft and passenger belongings were discovered Friday near the coastal city of Alexandria, the Egyptian military said in a statement. “The searching, sweeping and the retrieval process is underway,” military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Samir said.
EgyptAir flight MS804: Egyptian search team says it has found debris and personal belongs from missing plane and is now looking for black box. Egyptian armed forces say they found debris from EgyptAir Flight 804 in the Mediterranean on Friday, according to military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Samir. Passenger belongings and parts of the aircraft were found 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of the coastal city of Alexandria, according to a statement from the armed forces. “Egyptian aircraft and naval vessels were able to locate on Friday morning 20 May 2016 some personal belongings of passengers as well as parts of the wreckage 290 km north of Alexandria area,” the statement said. “The searching, sweeping and the retrieval process is underway.” The search for EgyptAir Flight 804 entered a second day after the jetliner vanished over the Mediterranean with 66 people aboard. The plane was carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members when it left Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport for Cairo late Wednesday night.
7am – A INTERVIEW — PETER BROOKES – a senior fellow for national security affairs at The Heritage Foundation and former Navy Reconissance Pilot – analyzed the latest development of the Egypt Air wreckage found.
7am – B TSA uproar spills into Congress. Airlines say Congress is contributing to long airport lines. DALLAS (AP) — As airport security lines get longer, the finger-pointing over blame is growing too. The nation’s leading airlines, already feuding with the Transportation Security Administration, are now taking on Congress. The trade group Airlines for America on Thursday said Congress should reverse a 2013 decision that diverted $12.6 billion in passenger-security fees to reducing the federal budget deficit. The airlines want that money to pay for airport security screening. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has joined a handful of senators in asking airlines to waive fees on checked bags. They say that would lead to fewer carry-on bags for TSA to screen. Neither side is giving ground, and passengers are stuck in the middle. Airlines say lines are long because TSA is understaffed while travel is expected to hit a record high this summer. Congress has advanced TSA money to hire 768 more screeners and pay overtime this summer, but airlines say that won’t be good enough.
7am – C 2016 News:
Democrats in Disarray
Democrat Senators are trying to figure out what to do with Bernie Sanders
Hillary Clinton: ‘I will be the nominee.’ Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the outcome of the Democratic presidential nomination is certain and that she will prevail. “I will be the nominee for my party,” she said during an interview with CNN.
Trump leads Clinton by 5 points in Rasmussen poll. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has increased his lead over Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday. Trump now leads Clinton by 5 percentage points, 42 to 37 percent. The poll also found that 13 percent of respondents prefer another candidate and 7 percent were undecided. The new poll differs somewhat from recent polling, which shows Clinton holding a slim lead. According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Clinton has a 3.9-point lead over Trump, 46.2 to 42.3 percent. But Trump led a Fox News national poll released Wednesday by 3 points.
Fox News Poll: Voters trust Trump on economy, Clinton on foreign policy, nuclear weapons. Fox News poll: Donald Trump snatches lead from Hillary Clinton. He bests Clinton by 12 points on both the economy (53-41 percent) and terrorism (52-40 percent). The poll, released Thursday, was conducted prior to news of an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo crashing in the Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile, Clinton has the edge on social issues (+12 points), education (+10), foreign policy (+10), health care (+3), and immigration (+2).
7am – D Q & A with Susan Ferrechio about Congress:
How Senate Democrats are trying to deal with Sanders. Senate Democrats discussed how to handle Bernie Sanders and his supporters at a private caucus meeting on Tuesday. The lawmakers met in a closed-door session days after Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was shouted down at the Nevada Democratic convention, an incident that shook Democrats and raised fears about a chaotic fight at the party’s upcoming national convention that might cost the party the White House. Democrats in the room decided the best course would be to let Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) handle the delicate task of talking to Sanders about the increasingly negative tone of supporters of his presidential bid, according to sources familiar with what happened at the meeting.
GOP struggles for response to Obama’s transgender rule. (Washington Examiner) — Republicans are outraged at the Obama administration’s directive expanding the rights of transgendered students in public schools, but they don’t yet know what to do about it. Other than the introduction of a bill sponsored by Rep. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., which would block the federal government from withholding funding from non-compliant schools, Republicans made no legislative move to stop the new rule this week. But some were already talking about taking the fight to court, in the hopes that a judge would decide Obama’s move is illegal. “We write laws, and we need to respect the president that he disagrees with us, but that is why the courts would be involved,” House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, told the Washington Examiner.
Congress, White House strike rescue deal for Puerto Rico. WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans and Democrats reached a rare, election-year deal with the White House to try to rescue Puerto Rico from $70 billion in debt as millions of Americans in the cash-strapped U.S. territory struggle with the loss of basic services. A revised House bill introduced late Wednesday would create a board to help manage the territory’s financial obligations and restructure some debt. Negotiations between the Obama administration and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office helped finalize the legislation. It is a “fair, but tough bipartisan compromise,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. Ryan, R-Wis., said the legislation would avoid an eventual taxpayer bailout. Puerto Rico, mired in a decade-long recession, already has missed several payments to creditors. A $2 billion installment, the largest yet, is due July 1. The island’s businesses have shuttered, schools lack sufficient resources like electricity and some hospitals are limiting treatment or drugs. Puerto Rico’s governor used a state of emergency this week to protect one public agency from lawsuits.
House Votes to Ban Confederate Flags on VA Cemetery Flagpoles. (AP) – The House voted Thursday to ban the display of the Confederate flag on flagpoles at Veterans Administration cemeteries. The 265-159 vote would block descendants and others seeking to commemorate veterans of the Confederate States of America from flying the Confederate Battle Flag over mass graves, even on days that flag displays are permitted. California Democrat Jared Huffman authored the prohibition, saying the flag represents “racism, slavery and division.” After a mass shooting at a South Carolina black church last year, the state legislature ordered the flag removed from the capitol in Columbia. The House approved amendments last year to block the display and sale of the Confederate flag at national parks but a backlash from Southern Republicans caused GOP leaders to scrap the underlying spending bill.
7am – E EgyptAir flight MS804: Egyptian search team says it has found debris and personal belongs from missing plane and is now looking for black box
8am – A INTERVIEW – Montgomery County Councilmember NANCY FLOREEN – Montgomery County Council President (D-At Large)
Montgomery County homeowners face biggest tax hike in seven years. The council set the property tax rate at $1.02 per $100 of assessed value, 3.9 cents above last year’s rate. With rising assessments, it means that annual residential property tax bills will rise, on average,. $326, to $4,075. The council will take a final vote on the overall spending plan May 26.
Montgomery County Council Tentatively Approves FY17 Operating Budget
8am – B/C Taking calls on the Floreen interview.
8am – D INTERVIEW — BRET BAIER – Anchor, Special Report, Fox News Channel
Democrats in Disarray: Democrat Senators are trying to figure out what to do with Bernie Sanders
Hillary Clinton: ‘I will be the nominee.’ Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the outcome of the Democratic presidential nomination is certain and that she will prevail. “I will be the nominee for my party,” she said during an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “That is already done, in effect. There is no way that I won’t be.”
Fox News is waiting on whether Clinton will confirm debating meanwhile Sanders has confirmed.
POLLS: Trump leads Clinton by 5 points in Rasmussen poll. Fox News poll: Donald Trump snatches lead from Hillary Clinton.
EGYPT AIR: What are Bret’s thoughts on this Egypt Air plane story?
8am – E More Egypt Air updates