Photo, left: Druse women at the village oven, Dalleh, Mount Carmel, around 1880
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; & Cumulus Media radio.  Steve Moore, Heritage Foundation chief economist. Rita Cosby, WABC news director.
 
Hour One
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 1, Block A: Steve Moore, Heritage, in re: Today’s primary in New York State. Rita Cosby: primary results in New York: Trump winning over Cruz and Kasich – by 69%  to . . . If there’s a faltering in the Trump campaign, Trump reorganizes, which is the sign of a good manager. Tonight’s exit polls: 70% want the person with a simple majority of delegates to be the nominee.
Voting under way in N.Y., a coveted prize expected to lift front-runners  ; A big win for Donald Trump would bring him closer to an outright majority of GOP delegates. Hillary Clinton hopes to wrap up the Democratic nomination in New York. By Jose A. DelReal, Ed O'Keefe and Juliet Eilperin ; Donald Trump’s bid may hinge on the shake-up of his inner circle  ;He has brought in seasoned GOP operatives while diminishing the role of the less-experienced staffers who got him this far by simply allowing Trump to be himself.
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 1, Block B:  John McLaughlin, pre-eminent pollster, McLaughlin Associate, in re:  No public polling on Indiana yet.  Could be a three-way race.  In Phila to be on TV is also to be on TV in Delaware.  Trump needs to look ahead to several possible Cruz ambushes. Batchelor is a Hoosier by inheritance.  Pressure to get Kasich out of the race:  he has moderate, traditional Republicans who don’t care for the other two candidates.  Kasich will do well in New York – could beat Cruz in New York.  Cruz[?] will do well in Boro Park.  If Kasich were out, in some states that vote would go to Trump before Cruz – in the Northeast, e.g..  Trump is still attracting independents, who are increasing the turnout. 
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 1, Block C: Bill Whalen, Hoover, in re: From EMILY’s list: monied, powerful, well -connected women in America who drive the Democratic Party.  Mrs Clinton is a major factor in this.  –Yes, but she’s not doing as well as would be expected.  Susan Sarandon and some others stumping for Bernie would disagree.  . . . Mrs Clinton’s losses among African-Americans stand out.  She’s a weak candidate, although she may win. Uninspiring. What's her message?? At present we have two frontrunners who are weak: Trump and Clinton. Go google Jerry Brown and Bill Clinton – same situation.  Bill moved to the center in ways that no Dem would dare to do these days.  Mitt Romney was victim of the largest gender gap in history.  If Clinton runs vs Trump she’ll play this card.  . . .  Bill Clinton’s rant abt the 1994 defense of the crime act – stats and numbers – and the next day she needs to pull back: because Hillary and her coterie explained that they need to take a different tack.   [Fox announces that Hillary is definitively beating Bernie.] . . . The  whole country is worried about the economy. 
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 1, Block D: Steve Moore, Heritage, in re: the economy.  Glenn Hubbard at the Columbia B-school the other day: progressive economists agreeing that no growth is just fine.  One per cent is just fine.  “That’s the dopiest dopey thing I’ve ever heard. Only a bunch of academics could come up with that.  Govt regulations and taxes are stifling the economy – gone within months from 2% to 1% to perhaps 0.”  Slowdown in everything from mfrg to  . . .    Companies are reporting losses.  Profit (“the mother’s milk of stocks”) is going down.  We need an old-fashioned Reagan agenda.   See Larry Summer’s article on secular stagnation. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2016-02-15/age-secular-stagnation The GOP needs a positive countermeasure: “I have a positive agenda to fix this.”  And don't forget the energy sector.
 
Hour Two
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 2, Block A:   Rita Cosby, WABC radio political director, in re: As expected, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump did win, by larger-than-expected margins. Clinton has won by a landslide: 60% to 39%.  Trump is 62%; Kasich in the twenties, Cruz in the teens.  Trump: “We don't have much of a race any more.  . . . . It’s really nice to win the delegates with the votes.”
Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board & host of Opinion Journal on WSJ Video; in re:  Yes, 1237 means: 1237. Mr Trump says that it's all finished, he has enough even if not quite the needed number.   He didn't complain about normal process where he had landslide victories; only when it doesn't redound to his advantage. We play all nine innings.   Mr Trump has retooled his operation: Paul Manafort from the Twentieth Century will reorganize.   . .  As well as Trump is ding tonight, we already have factored in a great night for him; on a delegate map, factored in a good night next week; and May is  different map, where Cruz and Kasich may be able to [do better].  Sanders is running strongly for a serious underdog; he’s pulled her ‘way to the left.  The longer she stays in, the more he attacks her, the weaker she is and the more fodder she gives the GOP.  With her backers – unions, many ethnic groups, et al. – she’s most likely to get the nomination absent a surprise such as something to do with her email problems.  From Trump: a more dialled-back tone, less-caustic rhetoric.  He did say that the Party system is rigged and the convention proves doesn’t matter. What he could have done was embraced the delegates and system – they might think differently about him. When he accuses all those grass-roots Americans of being corrupt, he does himself a disservice.
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 2, Block B: John Fund, NRO, in re: just back from Europe; 1237 = 1237?  Yes. And the delegates have independence after the first ballot. Trump has shown himself to be volatile and unreliable. We have delegates to supplement the judgment of the voters. True; their job is to elect someone who can win.  . . . I keep being told that 1100 is 1237.  Trump runs  his campaign as a series of rallies. When he doesn’t win, he complains that it's fraud.  However, it's the same rules as used by Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan.    /  Trump has lent himself about $20 mil, and has agreed to invest another $20 mil – he sees that even with winning New York, he’ll fall about 100 or 150 delegates short; he certainly cannot afford to lose the first ballot. Indiana is  the Wisconsin of May. They don’t like sharp elbows or demagogic speeches.
[More turmoil in Trump camp.  Lewandowski needs a food taster.] The Man Behind Donald Trump’s Unlikely Rise Wrote Its Playbook for Al Sharpton - Daily Beast.   A funny thing about the Nixon-tattooed showy master of the shadowy arts who's helped make Donald J. Trump the frontrunner for the Republican ...
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 2, Block C:  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack., in re:  Prep work for SpaceX’s Texas spaceport continues   The competition heats up: Though the first launch there is likely delayed until 2018, SpaceX has begun the preliminary foundation work to begin constructing its private spaceport near Brownsville, Texas. They’re hauling in a gigantic amount of dirt to stabilize the ground before work on the launchpads, themselves, begins.  At the end of that, they cover it with concrete. A two-year delay, but certitude that the launchpad will be safe.  – Hey - they're rebuilding Texas! – Yes, but they're on the coast, so it's sandy.  
An update on SpaceX’s recovered first stage  Link here. The story not only gives a detailed description of the prep work done to get the stage, dubbed CRS-8 S1, ready for transportation to the test facility where it will undergo static fire tests, it also gives an update on the status of SpaceX’s upcoming launches. This one sentence sums it up: The frequency of SpaceX launches is expected to pick up the pace in June with up to three launches planned, potentially including the historic reuse of the CRS-8 S1.   If SpaceX can get three rockets off the ground in one month, a first for the company, they will help ease their launch backlog while also demonstrating that they can launch at a fast and reliable rate.  Guyana! Selling rockets on eBay?  No – Pentagon may not sell to the commercial mkt. But orbital ATK, specializing in solid rocket motors, is ready to use the ICBMs – yet it’s illegal for them to buy and for year they've been lobbying Congress to lift the ban. Lo and behold, Virgin Galactic is now fighting tooth and nail to prevent that lest it help a competitor.
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 2, Block D: Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack., in re: An update on Philae  Link here. No big news. The lander remains silent, and has not yet been precisely located on the surface, though they have a pretty good idea where it is. They expect to get images of it on the surface sometime before September, when Rosetta’s mission will end with its own attempted touchdown on Comet 67P/C-G.
 
Hour Three
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 3, Block A:   Patrick Tucker, DefenseOne, in re:  http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/04/f-35-will-fly-despite-auditors-fleet-grounding-warning/127561/?oref=d-river
http://www.govexec.com/defense/2016/04/15-years-government-wants-its-satellites-adapt-threats-fly/127425/?oref=d-river ; http://www.govexec.com/defense/2016/04/problem-pentagons-hypersonic-missile/127547/?oref=d-river (2 of 2)
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 3, Block B:  Patrick Tucker, DefenseOne, in re:  http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/04/f-35-will-fly-despite-auditors-fleet-grounding-warning/127561/?oref=d-river
http://www.govexec.com/defense/2016/04/15-years-government-wants-its-satellites-adapt-threats-fly/127425/?oref=d-river ; http://www.govexec.com/defense/2016/04/problem-pentagons-hypersonic-missile/127547/?oref=d-river (2 of 2)
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 3, Block C:   Mendi Safadi, The Safadi Foundation, in re: ISIS Kills Four Druze Before Releasing Most of 300 Workers Held ...  ISIS Kills Four Druze Before Releasing Most of 300 Workers Held Captive Near Damascus. The fate of thirty captives remains unknown after ...  ISIS singles out and executes Druze prisoners  Arutz Sheva  (1 of 2)
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 3, Block D: Mendi Safadi, The Safadi Foundation, in re: ISIS Kills Four Druze Before Releasing Most of 300 Workers Held ...  ISIS Kills Four Druze Before Releasing Most of 300 Workers Held Captive Near Damascus. The fate of thirty captives remains unknown after ...  ISIS singles out and executes Druze prisoners  Arutz Sheva  (2 of 2)
 
Hour Four
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 4, Block A:  Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick K. O'Donnell   Part II of II; segment 5 of 8
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 4, Block B:  Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick K. O'Donnell   Part II of II; segment 6 of 8
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 4, Block C: Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick K. O'Donnell   Part II of II; segment 7 of 8
Tuesday  19 April 2016   / Hour 4, Block D:  Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick K. O'Donnell   Part II of II; segment 8 of 8 
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