Tag: CNN

CNN host spars with Trump economist Navarro for touting ‘social scientist’ credentials in hydroxychloroquine fight: ‘Why should we listen to you?’

AlterNet logoAxios’ Jonathan Swan has reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci and Peter Navarro (policy coordinator for the Trump White House’s trade policy) had a heated argument in the White House’s Situation Room over the benefits of hydroxychloroquine as a way to possibly treat coronavirus. Navarro, like President Donald Trump, has been pushing chloroquine aggressively  — while Fauci has strong reservations. And the merits of hydroxychloroquine (which has been used to treat malaria) in relation to coronavirus were hotly debated on Monday morning, April 6 when Navarro appeared on CNN’s “New Day” and was aggressively grilled by host John Berman.

Berman emphasized that Navarro lacks Fauci’s medical expertise, asking why someone would believe Navarro over a well-respected “infectious disease doctor” like Fauci. When Navarro described himself as a “social scientist,” Berman responded that being a “social scientist” is not the same as having medical expertise.

“I’m sorry, that doesn’t qualify you to treat patients,” Berman said. “You know it doesn’t qualify to you treat patients.” Continue reading.

Pence chief of staff rants wildly about anti-Trump conspiracy at DOJ — gets promptly shut down on CNN

AlterNet logoAppearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” with fill-in host Dana Bash, the chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence argued that the Justice Department is rife with officials who are biased against Donald Trump, only to have Bash remind him that the all the investigations of the president have been initiated by Trump appointees.

After complaining about how the Roger Stone case was handled, Martin Short lashed out at the Justice Department after Bash stated, “Barr ordered the Justice Department to re-examine the case of the former national security advisor Michael Flynn who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and President Trump said that Flynn’s situation is unfair, and he wished him best wishes and good luck. Why is the attorney general inserting himself in cases involving the president’s associates?”

Because, again, there has been a bias within the Department of Justice that the Attorney General Barr is trying to correct,” Short shot back. “He said that the president has not called him directly to do these things, but he is acting independently to do the reviews and I think that he is doing a terrific job with it.” Continue reading.

CNN attorney accuses DOJ of ‘slow-rolling’ FOIA’d Mueller documents: ‘News delayed is news denied’

AlterNet logoWith President Donald Trump facing an impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House of Representatives because of the Ukraine scandal, the media aren’t focusing on “Russiagate” nearly as much as they were earlier this year. Nonetheless, CNN has continued to pursue sealed records from former special xounsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and this week, an attorney representing CNN complained that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has yet to hand over all of the records the cable news outlet has requested.

Attorney Charles Tobin, according to Courthouse News, told U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, “News delayed is news denied.” Tobin noted that the first Mueller-related documents the DOJ gave CNN in response to its Freedom of Information Act request were delivered to CNN’s Washington, D.C. office on November 2. But CNN has yet to receive other Mueller-related documents it requested, Tobin complained.

“We are convinced that the government is slow-rolling these documents,” the attorney told Walton.

View the complete November 26 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

CNN anchor slams her colleague’s bigoted attack on a witness against Trump

AlterNet logoCNN’s Brianna Keilar had harsh words on Tuesday for her new colleague, Sean Duffy, who was recently hired as a commentator for the network.

Earlier in the day, Duffy had attacked the latest witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. An expert on Ukraine serving on the National Security Counsel, Vindman said in remarks released before his Tuesday deposition that he was deeply concerned by Trump’s efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government into investigating his political rivals. Duffy, in a baseless attack during a CNN segment, suggested that Vindman’s Ukrainian heritage made him unduly sympathetic to the foreign country.

“So that is some anti-immigrant bigotry,” said Keilar. “And it’s odd questioning of patriotism coming from Sean Duffy, the guy who spent his 20s on MTV’s The Real World and the Real World/Road Rules Challenge while Alexander Vindman spent his on foreign deployments, including one to Iraq, where he earned a Purple Heart after he was injured by a roadside bomb. And it’s a sign of how desperate some of the president’s backers are as they try to defend him against what Vindman — perhaps the most credible and knowledgable witness so far — has to tell Congress.”

View the complete October 29 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

Mulvaney faced White House ouster threat before impeachment crisis took over

WASHINGTON  (CNN) — Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney faced internal efforts to oust him before House Democrats moved ahead with their impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, multiple sources tell CNN.

Top aides including Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner were in the process of reaching out to at least two potential replacements for the top West Wing job shortly before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in late September that she would move ahead with an impeachment inquiry.

These previously unreported efforts did not come to fruition, but underscore the weakness of Mulvaney’s position even before his headline-generating performance in the briefing room last week. One person familiar with Mulvaney’s thinking said the search came as Mulvaney himself was looking for an exit after 10 months in the role, though people close to Mulvaney have denied he wanted to leave.

View the complete October 20 article by Kaitlin Collins, Dana Bash, Jim Acosta and Gloria Borger on the CNN website here.

Trump Writes Unhinged ‘Legal’ Letter Demanding That CNN Pay Him Money

This week, right-wing hoaxster James O’Keefe launched the latest of his series of secretly recorded videos, which purport to prove various conservative conspiracy theories but fail. The new version involves a CNN contractor recording employees grumbling about various complaints about the network, none of which establish the plot O’Keefe set out to prove, and some of which suggest the opposite (an employee complains that CNN covers Trump rallies but not Biden ones, which are too boring).

Even some of the conservative movement’s dimmest stars came away unimpressed. The project nonetheless seems to have left an impression on Donald Trump, a devoted follower and purveyor of nearly all the right’s conspiracy theories, a fanatical devotee of cable news, and, incidentally, the president of the United States. Trump has directed his lawyer to threaten a lawsuit against CNN on the basis of O’Keefe’s flimsy video. Continue reading “Trump Writes Unhinged ‘Legal’ Letter Demanding That CNN Pay Him Money”

Brutal CNN fact check busts Trump for constantly stealing credit for Obama’s achievements

AlterNet logoCNN’s John Avlon on Thursday exposed President Donald Trump’s habit of taking credit for agreements that were actually made by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.

In a “Reality Check” segment, Avlon played several video clips of Trump boasting about things he’d supposedly done, although in reality they were done before he even became president.

He starts out by pointing to Trump claiming credit for the opening of a Shell plant in Pennsylvania this week, despite the fact that construction for the plant was first announced by the Obama administration in 2012.

View the complete August 15 article by Brad Reed from Raw Story on the AlertNet website here.

Trump’s attack on CNN’s Don Lemon spectacularly backfires after everyone points out it makes him seem even more racist

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump on Wednesday attacked CNN host Don Lemon for discussing the president’s racist comments during a Tuesday night Democratic debate — but Trump’s latest tirade only served to make him look more racist.

“CNN’s Don Lemon, the dumbest man on television, insinuated last night while asking a debate ‘question’ that I was a racist, when in fact I am ‘the least racist person in the world,’” Trump wrote. “Perhaps someone should explain to Don that he is supposed to be neutral, unbiased & fair, or is he too dumb (stupid} to understand that. No wonder CNN’s ratings (MSNBC’s also) have gone down the tubes – and will stay there until they bring credibility back to the newsroom. Don’t hold your breath!”

Trump has regularly questioned black public figures’ intelligence, such as when he said that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) had a “low IQ.”

View the complete July 31 article by Brad Reed from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

CNN Anchors Correct Trump Misstatements at Press Conference

During a Tuesday morning press conference, President Donald Trump not only defended his attack on Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (who chairs the House Oversight Committee) and the city of Baltimore — he also made some misleading statements on tariffs and the Washington Post. And it didn’t take CNN reporters Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow long to fact-check Trump’s bizarre claims.

Sciutto explained why Trump’s statements about U.S. tariffs on China are misleading, telling Harlow, “He said that China is paying, that the U.S. is getting billions and billions of dollars in tariffs from China. Of course, the fact is that U.S. importers and consumers pay for tariffs.”

Sciutto went on to say Trump’s claim that Baltimore’s city government, with Cummings’ help, has “wasted billions of dollars” has no basis in fact. Trump, Sciutto noted, made “quite a charge against Rep. Elijah Cummings, saying that Baltimore has taken — stolen, he seems to be saying, or wasted billions of dollar.”

View the complete July 30 article by Alex Henderson from AlterNet on the National Memo website here.

CNN delivers brutal fact-check after Trump rattles off a number of ‘baseless’ claims during freewheeling press conference

AlterNet logoDuring a Tuesday morning press conference, President Donald Trump not only defended his attack on Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (who chairs the House Oversight Committee) and the city of Baltimore — he also made some misleading statements on tariffs and the Washington Post. And it didn’t take CNN reporters Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow long to fact-check Trump’s bizarre claims.

Sciutto explained why Trump’s statements about U.S. tariffs on China are misleading, telling Harlow, “He said that China is paying, that the U.S. is getting billions and billions of dollars in tariffs from China. Of course, the fact is that U.S. importers and consumers pay for tariffs.”

Sciutto went on to say Trump’s claim that Baltimore’s city government, with Cummings’ help, has “wasted billions of dollars” has no basis in fact. Trump, Sciutto noted, made “quite a charge against Rep. Elijah Cummings, saying that Baltimore has taken — stolen, he seems to be saying, or wasted billions of dollar.”

View the complete July 30 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.