| |
|
By Nicholas Fondacaro
 After Senate Republicans unveiled their ObamaCare replacement on Thursday, ABC smeared the bill during World News Tonight with claims that people were going to pay more for less and that Medicaid was being cut. On Sunday, Clinton lackey George Stephanopoulos took to his show, This Week, to continue their smear campaign. “ The President right there said no cuts in Medicaid … Why is the President going back on his promise,” he rudely yelled at Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.
According to Stephanopoulos, “A lot of senators have questions about the Senate bill. Particularly those cuts in Medicaid. More than $800 billion.” He also asserted that the cuts to Medicaid in the Senate bill were larger than those in the House bill.
“These are not cuts to Medicaid, George. This slows the rate for the future and it allows governors more flexibility with Medicaid dollars because they're closest to the people in need,” Conway tried to explain. “We are trying to get Medicaid back to its original moorings. And--” she said before her host cut her off and spoke over her.
Sounding irritated, the ABC host said: “Kellyanne, I don’t see how you can say the more $800 billion in savings is not cuts.” He tried to back up is claim with the criticisms of big government Republicans. “You don’t have to take my word for it,” he said defensively. “It’s the Republican senators you're facing right now who have that problem, led by Senator Dean Heller of Nevada [and Susan Collins].”
Conway again tried to explain why they were incorrect about there being cuts, but Stephanopoulos continued to interrupt her to tell her she was wrong:
Kellyanne, hold on a second. There's no way you can say a 15-year-old on Medicaid today is not going to be affected by the cuts in the future. You said everybody on Medicaid now is grandfathered in and is not going to face any cuts. That simply is not factual if you have more than $800 billion in cuts. It’s also—
It was Conway's turn to interrupt. “But you keep calling them cuts. We don't see them as cuts. It’s slowing the rate of growth in the future and getting Medicaid back to where it was,” she accurately told Stephanopoulos. “ObamaCare expanded the pool of Medicaid recipients beyond its original intentions.”
And she’s right. The Senate bill doesn’t cut Medicaid, it only slows down the rate of spending growth by the federal government. In fact, the bill pegs spending growth to inflation so it’s almost guaranteed to go up every year.
But, of course, in Washington D.C. anything that’s not an increase in spending is considered a cut. President Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney had expertly mocked D.C.’s definition of a budget cut during a press briefing back in May. “There are no Medicaid cuts in the terms of what ordinary human beings would refer to as a cut. We are not spending less money one year than we spent before,” Mulvaney joked as he talked about a proposed budget at the time.
But to Stephanopoulos, the facts be damned. “Again, it's the Republican senators calling this cuts. It’s the experts calling this cuts. You can't say that $800 billion in savings are not cuts,” he exclaimed before turning the subject to funding for fighting opioid addiction. He also falsely claimed that Trump was gutting that too.
Shameless Stephanopoulos never addressed if there were actual cut to Medicaid. He had no problem with going along with false assertions of cuts because it helped the liberal smears against the GOP bill.
Transcript below:
ABC
This Week
June 25, 2017
9:05:05 AM Eastern
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you laid out the problems with Obamacare. A lot of senators have questions about the Senate bill. Particularly those cuts in Medicaid. More than $800 billion. I want to show the President's first speech when he announced for president.
DONALD TRUMP: Save Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The President right there said no cuts in Medicaid, had several tweets on that same subject. This bill has, even more, Medicaid cuts than the House bill. Why is the President going back on his promise?
KELLYANNW CONWAY: These are not cuts to Medicaid, George. This slows the rate for the future and it allows governors more flexibility with Medicaid dollars, because they're closest to the people in need. Medicaid's imperative, its founding was meant to help the poor, the sick, the needy, the disabled, children, some elderly, women, particularly pregnant women. We are trying to get Medicaid back to its original moorings. And--
STEPHANOPOULOS [Interrupting Conway]: Kellyanne, I don’t see how you can say the more $800 billion in savings is not cuts. And don’t—You don’t have to take my word for it. It’s the Republican senators you're facing right now who have that problem, led by Senator Dean Heller of Nevada. He said he's voting no. Also Senator Susan Collins.
(…)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Kellyanne, hold on a second. There's no way you can say a 15-year-old on Medicaid today is not going to be affected by the cuts in the future. You said everybody on Medicaid now is grandfathered in and is not going to face any cuts. That simply is not factual if you have more than $800 billion in cuts. It’s also—
CONWAY: But you keep calling them cuts. We don't see them as cuts. It’s slowing the rate of growth in the future and getting Medicaid back to where it was. ObamaCare expanded the pool of Medicaid recipients beyond its original intentions. And George, you have to look at the whole health care bill, 142 pages in total here in order to have a full conversation.
(…)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Again, it's the Republican senators calling this cuts. It’s the experts calling this cuts. You can't say that $800 billion in savings are not cuts.
|
|
By Nicholas Fondacaro
 The Sunday morning shows of the Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) were filled with discussion of the health care bill recently released by Senate Republicans on Thursday. That discussion was loaded with fake news about the bill drastically slashing Medicaid, which was being pushed by the program moderators. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos actually yelled at Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway because she refuted it. Meanwhile, on the other networks, GOP Senators were embarrassing their hosts by educating them on what the bill actually did to Medicaid. One Senator didn’t even support the bill.
CBS host John Dickerson had Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey on Face the Nation to discuss his support for the proposed legislation. “We just heard Senator Manchin on the Democratic side, but on the Republican side, there are two criticisms: That too much ObamaCare is left in place and then criticisms from say, Senator Heller, which is that these Medicaid cuts are too big,” he prefaced his question to the Senator. “How do those get solved?”
“Yeah. Listen, it's going to be a challenge, but I have to strongly disagree with the characterization that we're somehow ending the Medicaid expansion,” Pat Toomey said, immediately shooting down Dickerson’s assertion. He then proceeded to lecture Dickerson on what the bill would do for poor people:
In fact, quite the contrary. The Senate bill will codify and make permanent the Medicaid expansion, and will, in fact, have the federal government pay the lion's share of the cost. Remember, ObamaCare created a new category of eligibility. Working age, able-bodied adults with no dependents for the first time became eligible for Medicaid if their income is below 138 percent of the poverty level.
“We're continuing that eligibility. No one loses coverage,” Toomey added as he then explained where the funding was coming from. The Senator from Pennsylvania appeared to have left Dickerson speechless. The CBS moderator didn’t address Toomey’s correction, instead, he called on his other guest, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy to give his perspective as a former doctor in a poor area.
On NBC’s Meet the Press, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson chastised moderator Chuck Todd for pushing the “inflamed rhetoric” of false cuts to Medicaid:
You know, here’s some other inflamed rhetoric. You said it yourself: “slashing Medicaid.” Now that's Washington's speak. My definition of a cut is spending being reduced year over year. We don't have the final figures. But any projections that I've been working with regardless of the bill, I don't see anything other than a reduction in the growth of spending.
Johnson explained to Todd that he didn’t support the bill or the process in which it was crafted because it didn’t fix ObamaCare the way it needed to be. So Senator’s words carried extra weight when he requested that the media “be honest about what we're talking about here.” He seemed to implore Todd to think of the future generations in order to get government spending under control. “We are mortgaging our children's future. A compassionate society doesn’t impoverish future generation for benefits in the here and now,” he said.
Senator Johnson’s call for honesty by the media was of vital importance to elevating the political discourse surrounding the Senate’s bill. It was an example of how one can disagree with a piece of policy on stable terms without having to concoct fake news about what it does. The liberal media need to learn a lesson from this GOP Senator.
Transcripts below;
CBS
Face the Nation
June 25, 2017
10:52:41 AM Eastern
JOHN DICKERSON: There seem to be two criticisms of the bill. We just heard Senator Manchin on the Democratic side, but on the Republican side, there are two criticisms that too much ObamaCare is left in place and then criticisms from say, Senator Heller, which is that these Medicaid cuts are too big. How do those get solved?
PAT TOOMEY: Yeah. Listen, it's going to be a challenge, but I have to strongly disagree with the characterization that we're somehow ending the Medicaid expansion. In fact, quite the contrary. The Senate bill will codify and make permanent the Medicaid expansion, and will, in fact, have the federal government pay the lion's share of the cost. Remember, ObamaCare created a new category of eligibility. Working age, able-bodied adults with no dependents for the first time became eligible for Medicaid if their income is below 138 percent of the poverty level.
We're continuing that eligibility. No one loses coverage. What we are going to do, gradually over seven years is transition from the 90 percent federal share that ObamaCare created and transition that to where the federal government is still paying a majority, but the states are kicking in their fair share; an amount equivalent to what they pay for all the other categories of eligibility.
As far as some of my conservative friends who are concerned the bill doesn't go far enough, I'm sympathetic about the kinds of reforms they would like the make the lower premiums through more market forces and greater freedom on the part of consumers. But I see this bill as a first step, a first important step in the direction of repealing those portions of ObamaCare that we can, stabilizing the individual market, which is collapsing, and making important reforms to Medicaid. It's not the last step.
(…)
...
 NBC Meet the Press June 25, 2017 10:40:02 AM Eastern
(…)
CHUCK TODD: The point is: During the campaign you used that fun little buzzword [repeal and replace] and your constituents are hearing that buzzword look at buzzword, and they’re looking at this now and saying: “You've been promising repeal and replace on the campaign trail for seven years as party.” Now you’re being realistic, I think, in the January statement when there isn’t an election coming. But isn't this part of the problem in that you use one set of rhetoric during an election year and then when you need a pragmatic process, the constituents don't buy it?
RON JOHNSON: Well the problem, Chuck, is on shows like this you get a couple of minutes and you have to condense what you want to do. No, I would repeal all of ObamaCare and I would replace it with something that actually worked. Focus on repair, that’s those skyrocketing premiums those are the collapsing markets, that’s addressing the forgotten men and women.
You know, here’s some other inflamed rhetoric. You said it yourself: “slashing Medicaid.” Now that's Washington's speak. My definition of a cut is spending being reduced year over year. We don't have the final figures. But any projections that I've been working with regardless of the bill, I don't see anything other than a reduction in the growth of spending. So let's be honest about what we're talking about here. We are $20 trillion in debt, over the next 30 years according to the CBO, another $129 trillion of accumulated deficit. We are mortgaging our children's future. A compassionate society doesn’t impoverish future generation for benefits in the here and now.
(…)
|
|
By Brad Wilmouth
On Friday's The Last Word on MSNBC, it was the place for demonizing Republicans as regular MSNBC guests Joan Walsh and Nancy Giles called Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan a "monster" and declared that the way Senate Republicans had handled health care reform has been "criminal."
After substitute host Ari Melber devoted the first part of the segment to a woman, Karen, and her adult disabled son, Mike, who are afraid he will be forced to move away from home and live in a hospital or nursing home, the MSNBC host turned to Walsh -- currently with the left-wing The Nation magazine -- and posed: "Joan, you've been covering the health care battles for seven plus years. I wonder what you're thinking?"
Walsh got emotional and took aim at Speaker Ryan as she began:
I'm thinking, "What the hell kind of a country are we, Ari, that Michael has to lose sleep wondering if he can stay in his home with his family?" I mean, what is this family supposed to do? Paul Ryan has been dreaming about cutting this program since he was sitting -- hanging out at keggers in college -- he's told that story.
As Giles injected, "What kind of a man is he?" Walsh became more harsh as she continued:
What kind of a monster is he? Who dreams of cutting Medicaid? They act like people are merely takers -- they act like they don't understand hardship of any kind. Paul Ryan -- who actually got Social Security as a survivor when his father died, God bless him. I mean, the cruelty -- Karen uses that word -- it's the only word we can use -- the cruelty of this bill is beyond belief.
After Melber recalled that Mike had spoken of being frightened since President Donald Trump was elected, he went to Giles -- a CBS News contributor -- who did her own part to launch into Republicans. Giles:
I am so overwhelmed at Mike and Karen. I don't even know really what to say. I mean, for starters, that anybody could think the kind of care that he gets and that his mom supports him getting is a luxury, and is not something that is his right as a human being, I just find appalling. I echo what Joan said. I just -- I'm really confused about what kind of country we are?
The CBS contributor seemed to mix up Medicaid and Medicare, and even through in Social Security as she suggested that Republican reforms to Medicaid would be tampering with benefits that were "earned," and charged that Republican behavior had been "criminal":
We are revealed by how we treat our most vulnerable citizens, and if an inefficient system that profits some people could mean that an earned right -- not, you know, not a gift. I mean, Medicaid and Social Security -- they are not gifts. These are things that we earn -- that something like that could be denied someone like Mike who has thrived and used it and has been able to express himself, to not have a chance for his voice to be expressed is just criminal. It's criminal.
|
|
By Brad Wilmouth
On Friday's Real Time show on HBO, liberal comedian Bill Maher derided the Senate Republican health care plan as being like "a manifesto from the Zodiac killer," and trashed Republican Senator Ted Cruz as someone who does not believe the bill is "mean" enough, and who has experience at "making people sick."
He ended the show with a commentary in which he encouraged his audience members to reproduce less and snidely portrayed children as "resource-sucking, waste-making human beings" who are bad for the environment.
About five minutes into the opening monologue, Maher brought up the GOP health care reform plan:
And, of course, the, you know, real bad idea and real bad dude this week is the Senate unveiled their super-secret health care bill. (audience boos) Like me after the show, it was hashed out behind closed doors. And, you know, everybody's saying it was unveiled. Unveiled? Unveiled is not the right term. You unveil a sculpture. Nobody goes, "Behold, a turd." This is more likely something that was excreted, I mean.
He further demonized Republicans as he added:
Health care bill? More like a manifesto from the Zodiac killer. They should have published this by cutting out letters from the newspaper. It phases out Medicaid -- the safety net for our oldest, poorest, and most vulnerable citizens. It lets states drop the ObamaCare protection for preexisting conditions. And, just for spite, it defunds Planned Parenthood.
After the audience booed the plan, he complained about proposed tax cuts for the wealthy, and then took aim at Senator Cruz as he added:
And even still -- I love this -- a small group of Republicans -- (looks at audience member) thank you, one person -- a small group of Republican Senators say they can't vote for it because it's not mean enough. A group led by, not surprisingly, Ted Cruz -- who has been studying health care from top to bottom, up and down. Ted says, "Who knows more about making people sick than I do?"
As he concluded the regular "News Rules" segment at the end of the show, Maher recalled the passing of Mother's Day and Father's Day, and then called for a celebration of single people who help the world by not producing children. Without noting that most children grow up to be productive and therefore contribute back at the same time that they consume, the left-wing HBO host emphasized children as consumers of resources as he declared:
But we've spent a lifetime being the cool aunts and uncles, but while we celebrate everybody else, nobody celebrates us. And they really should because, you know what Mother Nature loves more than electric cars? Condoms. There's literally nothing you can do that's better for the environment than to not produce another resource-sucking, waste-making human being -- probably with a bad attitude.
He then added:
I didn't bring a kid into the world to consume valuable resources. Where's my breakfast in bed? Where's my coupon good for one foot rub? Where's my greeting card that says, "Roses are red, Violets are blue, You help the Earth, By keeping a lid on your goo"? So, you know, you can do it all. You can get the hybrid car, do the recycling, not throwing batteries in the trash -- it all adds up to a fraction of the good it would do to have just one less child because that child increases your carbon legacy by over 9,000 tons.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Friday, June 23, Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO:
10:05 p.m. ET
And, of course, the, you know, real bad idea and real bad dude this week is the Senate unveiled their super-secret health care bill. (audience boos) Like me after the show, it was hashed out behind closed doors. And, you know, everybody's saying it was unveiled. Unveiled? Unveiled is not the right term. You unveil a sculpture. Nobody goes, "Behold, a turd." This is more likely something that was excreted, I mean.
Health care bill? More like a manifesto from the Zodiac killer. They should have published this by cutting out letters from the newspaper. It phases out Medicaid -- the safety net for our oldest, poorest, and most vulnerable citizens. It lets states drop the ObamaCare protection for preexisting conditions. And, just for spite, it defunds Planned Parenthood. (audience boos) No more gynecological exams, although Trump says he is still available to grab p*****s.
Now, of course, I'm being one-sided and leaving out the good part. There's a massive tax cut for the top one percent. (audience boos) Yes, the guiding principle is: Rich people, if you like your money, you can keep your money. And even still -- I love this -- a small group of Republicans -- (looks at audience member) thank you, one person -- a small group of Republican Senators say they can't vote for it because it's not mean enough. A group led by, not surprisingly, Ted Cruz -- who has been studying health care from top to bottom, up and down. Ted says, "Who knows more about making people sick than I do?"
(...)
10:52 p.m. ET And, finally, "New Rule," now that we've had "Mother's Day" and "Father's Day," let's set aside this Sunday to celebrate people who are neither with a new holiday called "I Didn't Reproduce Day." And let me be clear, I am not saying there's anything wrong with having a small number of children. After all, children are the leaders of tomorrow. Sometimes they're even the leaders of today. (shows image of Jared Kushner) I'm just saying, where's the holiday for single people? We don't have a day -- only happy hour.
But we've spent a lifetime being the cool aunts and uncles, but while we celebrate everybody else, nobody celebrates us. And they really should because, you know what Mother Nature loves more than electric cars? Condoms. There's literally nothing you can do that's better for the environment than to not produce another resource-sucking, waste-making human being -- probably with a bad attitude.
i didn't bring a kid into the world to consume valuable resources. Where's my breakfast in bed? Where's my coupon good for one foot rub? Where's my greeting card that says, "Roses are red, Violets are blue, You help the Earth, By keeping a lid on your goo"? So, you know, you can do it all. You can get the hybrid car, do the recycling, not throwing batteries in the trash -- it all adds up to a fraction of the good it would do to have just one less child because that child increases your carbon legacy by over 9,000 tons.
(...)
So, you know, having kids or not having kids There's not a moral dimension to it. That's what I'm saying. It's just your taste. i don't have kids for the same reason you do. Because that's what each of us wants. I get it -- lot's of people love kids, although I must say no one in the world ever looks happier than when Maury Povich says, "You are not the father." (shows clips from the Maury Povich Show of men getting excited and celebrating after being told that they are not the father of their girlfriend's child)
(...)
|
|
By Nicholas Fondacaro
 Last this week, The Washington Postpublished an article saying that the Obama administration knew well in advance of Election Day 2016 that Russia was trying to meddle the U.S. election process. And despite their knowledge, they chose not to go public because of the fear that many would think President Obama was swaying the election to Hillary Clinton. During NBC’s Sunday Today, the network’s Chuck Todd let his true feelings show when equated Obama not putting his figure on the electoral scale to President Bush not acting on intelligence reports about Osama bin Laden before the 9/11 attacks.
“This was a Washington Post story this week that said Obama administration soft-pedaled its response to the Russian meddling because it didn’t want to be seen as putting its thumb on the scale of this election,” prefaced host Willie Geist, before asking Todd the triggering question. “What’s the impact of that story and all this stew of Russia?”
Todd whined that Trump was making his “head spin” by creating the “atmosphere” that kept Obama from taking the Russian meddling intelligence public. “I mean, for the very reason: Here's President Trump criticizing former President Obama for not doing anything,” he bemoaned. “Well at the time they got this intelligence, candidate Donald Trump was telling everybody that this election was going to get rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton.”
According to Todd, “In hindsight, though, there clearly a bunch of Obama White House folks are hand-wringing about this.” Todd seemed to be almost obsessed or disturbed by Obama’s decision because he declared that he would “never get over” how one Obama official claimed that “we choked” for not speaking out.
The story seemed to hit a boiling point for the Meet the Press moderator. “Look, this could be, Willie, what the infamous August 6th presidential intelligence daily briefing: ‘Bin Laden determined to strike the U.S. before 9/11,’” he announced, with a slight tinge of anger.
“This may be the equivalent in history on this Russian infiltration of the American democracy. We may go back and say: ‘This was equivalent of that,’” He continued to rant. “The Obama administration had the intelligence, had the smoking gun, and decided to pull back for fear of politicizing the election.” What Todd failed to mention was that the warning received by Bush was not a cut-and-dry fact, but a vague prediction about what bin Laden wanted to do with no set date. In sharp contrast, Obama's intelligence was about what they knew to be happening at the time.
Geist seemed to sympathize with Todd, saying: “And as you say, we’re hearing from a lot of Obama, who behind the scenes saying we should have done more in real time.”
In a commercial for his show on MSNBC, MTP Daily, Todd once claimed to be the “referee” who was out there to enforce the political “rules.” By misleadingly comparing the Bush administration’s and the Obama administration’s inactions on intelligence, Todd is equating 9/11 with Trump’s presidency. That doesn’t sound like an unbiased referee. That sounds like one that has chosen a clear side to back and throws his own low blows.
Transcript below:
NBC
Sunday Today
June 25, 2017
8:06:24 AM Eastern
(…)
WILLIE GEIST: Let me move on to Russia because when President Trump wasn’t tweeting about health care this week he was tweeting about Russia. I’ll read you one of them, Chuck. “Just out: The Obama administration knew far in advance of November 8thabout lection meddling by Russia. Did nothing about it. Why?” Put to the side the fact that he acknowledges Russian meddling in that tweet right there, something he has not done previously. Just go to this is a story—This was a Washington Post story this week that said Obama administration soft-pedaled its response to the Russian meddling because it didn’t want to be seen as putting its thumb on the scale of this election. What’s the impact of that story and all this stew of Russia?
CHUCK TODD: Well look, talk about making your head spin. I mean, for the very reason: Here's President Trump criticizing former President Obama for not doing anything. Well at the time they got this intelligence, candidate Donald Trump was telling everybody that this election was going to get rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton. And that was the atmosphere that the Obama administration was dealing with publicly when they got this intelligence, so we understand the reason why they did this. In hindsight, though, there clearly a bunch of Obama White House folks are hand-wringing about this. That line, I’ll never get over, you know: “We choked.”
Look, this could be, Willie, what the infamous August 6th presidential intelligence daily briefing: “Bin Laden determined to strike the U.S. before 9/11.” This may be the equivalent in history on this Russian infiltration of the American democracy. We may go back and say: “This was equivalent of that.” The Obama administration had the intelligence, had the smoking gun, and decided to pull back for fear of politicizing the election.
GEIST: And as you say, we’re hearing from a lot of Obama, who behind the scenes saying we should have done more in real time.
(…)
|
|
By Curtis Houck
In Friday’s edition of liberal media double standards, the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News saw no reason to cover new audio out of Nebraska in which a state Democratic Party official used an expletive to proclaim he’s “glad” Republican Congressman Steve Scalise (La.) “got shot” on June 14.
While CBS and NBC were caught up covering viral video of a dancing gorilla, ABC’s World News Tonight snuck in Montag’s ludicrous rhetoric in senior national correspondent Matt Gutman’s story about actor Johnny Depp’s jokes about presidential assassinations.
Gutman explained that Depp’s inexcusable jests came “just a week after that shooting at a Virginia baseball field” with “Representative Steve Scalise nearly killed, prompting calls from politicians on both sides of the aisle for more civility.”
Concerning Montag, Gutman observed that “calls apparently ignored by a Nebraska Democratic state party official, Phil Montag, caught on tape” obtained by Omaha’s Fox42.
“I'm [bleeping] glad he got shot,” Montag exclaimed in an excerpt before Gutman added that “Montag claims he was taken out of context, but was fired anyway by the state's party chair.”
To keep alive the notion that the right is equally violent, Gutman dug up a 2016 soundbite from Trump supporter and New Hampshire GOP Rep. Al Baldasaro, who argued that “Hillary Clinton should be put on the firing line and shot” for what happened in Benghazi.
Now, why did Gutman resurrect an old soundbite? Well, Baldasaro was “welcomed” at the White House Friday for an event.
Here’s the thing: Gutman didn’t say what event it was. Turns out, it was the signing ceremony for the new Veterans Affairs bill to become law. Funny how ABC didn’t mention that at all in the newscast.
Going back to this attempt at supposedly being fair and balanced, our friend Alex Griswold at the Washington Free Beacon found that, maybe it’s the left that should be worried about policing their own. Since May, Griswold reported in a Thursday piece that 30 Republican members of Congress have either been threatened or shot at.
Here’s the relevant transcript from ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir on June 23:
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir
June 23, 2017
6:42 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Heated Political Rhetoric; Growing Fears Harsh Talk Is Inciting Violence]
 MATT GUTMAN [ON JOHNNY DEEP APOLOGY]: In a statement tonight, he admits it wasn't funny. This comes just a week after that shooting at a Virginia baseball field. Representative Steve Scalise nearly killed, prompting calls from politicians on both sides of the aisle for more civility, calls apparently ignored by a Nebraska Democratic state party official, Phil Montag, caught on tape as saying this about Scalise.
PHIL MONTAG: I'm [bleeping] glad he got shot.
GUTMAN: Montag claims he was taken out of context, but was fired anyway by the state's party chair. The White House facing its own criticism today after the President welcomed a former Trump delegate who last year suggested that Hillary Clinton be executed.
REPUBLICAN NEW HAMPSHIRE REPRESENTATIVE AL BALDASARO: Hillary Clinton should be put on the firing line and shot.
GUTMAN: The White house tonight, David, is condemning both Depp’s comments and all calls to violence.
|
|
By Curtis Houck
File this one under, ‘no, this not a joke.’ For Friday’s off-camera White House press briefing, CNN hired a sketch artist to render images of press secretary Sean Spicer as yet another example of their pathetic meltdowns over the Trump communications team’s decisions about access.
Fox News White House correspondent Kevin Corke teased this news earlier Friday, but CNN Newsroom anchor Brooke Baldwin made an on-air announcement following the tape-delayed audio from briefing while sketches appeared next to her.
“We at CNN sent a sketch artist inside to provide you with the visuals the White House won't allow you to see. So you're actually looking at this artist rendering of press secretary Sean Spicer giving the answers. They refused to be recorded on camera. Brian, this is the only way people can see. It's ridiculous,” she complained to Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter.
Stelter obviously agreed, touting his network’s latest achievement as an example of CNN “getting creative.” He explained that they were done by “well-known courtroom artist”Bill Hennessy and are open for “other television networks...to use.”
“He's covered a lot of trials but I believe it's his first day sketching a White House press briefing....He was in the back of the briefing, didn't have his easel the way he usually has but he was able to draw the briefing. He's working on color versions of these images now,” Stelter added.
Almost predicting the onslaught of criticism and mockery that CNN would face (from spaces like this one), Stelter proclaimed that “[t]he point here is serious” and “CNN did not send a cartoonist in order to make fun of the briefing”:
They sent an actual sketch artist because it's a way to create a picture, paint a picture of these briefings for people because we, the viewers, weren't able to watch on camera. You know, Brooke, this is an example of the White House rolling back press access.
“I think today, CNN trying something new inside the briefing in order to have people have a sense of what it looks like,” the senior CNN media correspondent concluded.
Senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny chimed in a few moments later, stating the White House position that they believe off-camera briefings “allow for a more substantive discussion on policy.” Naturally, Zeleny quickly pivoted back to slamming this argument.
If the laughter created by this idea wasn’t enough, Zeleny correctly surmised that these meltdowns (including his) are exactly what President Trump (and, by extension, his supporters) want to see:
This White House is trying to avoid questions about the Russia investigation over and over and the President also, I believe, is trying to have the media sort of fight with itself and talk about itself. He relishes the moment when the media is talking about the media. You know, he enjoys this[.]
Before going back to Baldwin, Zeleny complimented Hennessy by suggesting that this role is no different than one Hennessy has played in courtrooms for murder trials:
I was just talking to Bill Hennessy just before I came out here, Brooke, and I can tell you, he is a very talented artist as we've seen, and he has, you know, a sketching out some more things of the scene in the room there and as Brian said, this isn't a cartoon. This is a real depiction of what's going on there. So certainly, like a courtroom, like a murder trial or something elsewhere cameras aren't allowed, they weren't allowed today so we went in with a sketch artist, Brooke.
Here’s the relevant transcript from June 23's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin:
CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin
June 23, 2017
3:24 p.m. Eastern
 BROOKE BALDWIN: Let’s also just talk about the briefing now. Brian Stelter is with me and just so we're all transparent, this is the second straight day that the White House has not allowed you to see the briefing. In fact, there have only been two on-camera briefings in the past two weeks, so 15 days. We at CNN sent a sketch artist inside to provide you with the visuals the White House won't allow you to see. So you're actually looking at this artist rendering of press secretary Sean Spicer giving the answers. They refused to be recorded on camera. Brian, this is the only way people can see. It's ridiculous.
BRIAN STELTER: This is CNN getting creative. Other television networks will be able to use these images later today as well, Brooke. This is by artist Bill Hennessy, who’s a well-known courtroom artist. He works at the Supreme Court all the time for CNN and other news outlets. He's covered a lot of trials but I believe it's his first day sketching a White House press briefing. So you see his images on screen here. He was in the back of the briefing, didn't have his easel the way he usually has but he was able to draw the briefing. He's working on color versions of these images now. The point here is serious. CNN did not send a cartoonist in order to make fun of the briefing. They sent an actual sketch artist because it's a way to create a picture, paint a picture of these briefings for people because we, the viewers, weren't able to watch on camera. You know, Brooke, this is an example of the white house rolling back press access. We've seen what is normally on camera daily briefings become a relatively infrequent exercise. You mentioned only twice in the past two weeks. The briefings have been held on camera. Most of the time they have been off camera, audio only and no live audio. It's weird in this age Periscope and Facebook live that you and I could get our phone out and live stream right now but the White House is being so restrictive and we've seen a number of attempts to change this. There was a meeting yesterday with the head of the White House Correspondents Association with Sean Spicer expressing concerns about these restrictions, but I think today, CNN trying something new inside the briefing in order to have people have a sense of what it looks like.
BALDWIN: So the concerns have been expressed. Jeff, just back over to you at the White House. I mean, tell me what's the White House's explanation? I'm checking my Twitter during the briefing and getting from viewers like I'm not tuning in to listen to a podcast. I mean, people deserve to see the briefing. Why not?
 JEFF ZELENY: Well, Sean Spicer was asked that directly again today at the audio-only briefing and he said, look, he said that this is something the White House is trying to allow for a more substantive discussion on policy. That's actually, perhaps, some of it and it was a robust briefing today with some serious discussions. Of course, that can happen on camera as well here. I mean, this would not be all that unusual if this happened to be the anomaly. If there were three or four daily briefings and once a week or so — I can remember back in the Obama days, back in the Bush administration, which I was covering as well, the press secretary would have, you know, a group of reporters in his office to talk about things in a more substantive way that weren't necessarily in sound bytes but that's not what this White House is doing. This White House is trying to avoid questions about the Russia investigation over and over and the President also, I believe, is trying to have the media sort of fight with itself and talk about itself. He relishes the moment when the media is talking about the media. You know, he enjoys this, but seeing this sketch artist there, I was just talking to Bill Hennessy just before I came out here, Brooke, and I can tell you, he is a very talented artist as we've seen, and he has, you know, a sketching out some more things of the scene in the room there and as Brian said, this isn't a cartoon. This is a real depiction of what's going on there. So certainly, like a courtroom, like a murder trial or something elsewhere cameras aren't allowed, they weren't allowed today so we went in with a sketch artist, Brooke.
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment