Tag: CNN

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Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month With CNN’s Javier Morgado

CNN executive producer Javier Morgado

CNN executive producer Javier Morgado I’m always so proud of my friend, Javi Morgado. As the executive producer of CNN’s New Day, he just kills it every day. Such a pro. But that’s just part of his story. I’ve known Javi for years as a leader among LGBTQ journalists where, as a longtime member of the National Lesbian Gay Journalists Association, he’s given back time and time again. And throughout his career, he’s returned to Miami – where he began his professional journey – to give back to aspiring journalists. In one of the rare moments Javi has stepped in front of the camera, he shares some thoughts on his pride for Hispanic Heritage Month. “Proud to share my family’s story & represent CNN in AT&T’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration,” says Javi.

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CNN Chats With Emmy-Nominated Randy Rainbow

CNN’s John Berman sits down with Randy Report favorite Randy Rainbow (yep, that’s his real name) to chat on his meteoric rise as political parody satirist. Randy’s career took off during the 2016 presidential campaign when his satirical take on the first Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump debate garnered over 20 million views in two days on Facebook alone. He’s now nominated for an Emmy Award and touring the country performing live concerts.

Here’s the video that began Randy’s triumphant run as Political Satirist in Chief plus his Emmy nominated “Barr:”

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Trump Likes To Reserve A Certain Word For Black/Brown People

After Donald Trump went on another Twitter rant, this time directed at Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), CNN host Victor Blackwell noticed a pattern in the Donald’s choice of language when referring to certain people.

I really don’t need to say anything else. Just watch.

UPDATE: Rep. Cummings responded to Trump’s ugliness. You’ll note that Cummings, instead of going ‘low,’ talks about doing his job for his constituents and asks the Donald to be a part of the solution.

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One Night, Five Democrats, Five Town Halls

CNN held five back-to-back town hall events with five Democratic presidential contenders last night – Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Good stuff from everyone, they all had strong moments at times.

A few takeaways:

While I appreciate the moderate lane Klobuchar has staked out for herself, it came across a bit timid and noncommittal in some of her answers. I’ll admit that a lot of issues can’t be truly addressed in a couple of minutes on a stage, but she was notably more cautious than her fellow candidates.

I really like Kamala Harris. She’s clear about what she stands for, and she has a strong decisive energy about her.

When asked about impeachment proceedings for Donald Trump, she said Congress should take steps towards impeachment but added Democrats must be “realistic about what might be the end result.”

One of Harris’ best moments came when she was asked about the issue of gun violence in the country and what she would do about it. Here’s what she said:

I have to say I almost became emotional as Mayor Pete took to the stage. As a gay man, to see this 37-year-old mayor take to the stage as a real player and handle himself so well was uplifting and energizing.

Mayor Pete had one of the biggest moments of the night when he was asked about the back and forth he’s had with Vice President Pence, and a comment made by Trump ally and homocon Richard Grennell, the current ambassador to Germany.

Buttigieg’s response: “I’m not a master fisherman, but I know bait when I see and I’m not going to take it.” And the crowd went wild.

A new talking point emerged throughout the night after Sen. Sanders said even the Boston bomber deserved to be able to vote. Sen. Harris concurred saying, “We should have that conversation.”

But Buttigieg was clear and concise in his opinion that prisoners should not be allowed to vote. “While incarcerated? No, I don’t think so,” the South Bend mayor said.

CNN has recapped each of the candidate’s hour-long turns onstage.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Sen. Bernie Sanders

Sen. Kamala Harris

Mayor Pete Buttigieg

A few more moments from the night:

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Out Mayor Pete Buttigieg Shades Mike Pence As ‘Cheerleader For Porn Star Presidency’

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Sunday night that he and Vice President Mike Pence (former governor of Indiana) have different views on biblical scripture.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Sunday night that he and Vice President Mike Pence (former governor of Indiana) have different views on biblical scripture.

CNN’s Jake Tapper, hosting a town hall in Austin, Texas, asked Buttigieg if Pence would be a better or worse president than Donald Trump.

After several moments of bewilderment, the 37-year-old mayor said that, while he disagreed with Pence ‘ferociously’ on things, he always felt Pence “at least believes in our institutions and he’s not personally corrupt.”

However, Buttigieg wondered aloud, “But then, how could he get onboard with this presidency?”

The openly gay mayor shared that his view of the Bible is based on “protecting the stranger and the prisoner and the poor person – that idea of ‘welcome,’” while Pence’s take on scripture seems to have ”a lot more to do with sexuality and a certain view of rectitude.”

“But, even if you but into that, how could he allow himself to become the cheerleader of the porn star presidency?” asked Buttigieg, referencing the allegations that Donald Trump made hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

“Is it that he stopped believing in scripture, when he started believing in Donald Trump? I don’t know. I don’t know.”

The Harvard alum also talked on coming out as gay in his traditionally conservative state.

“Frankly, when I first got into politics, elected politics at the beginning of this decade in Indiana — In Mike Pence’s Indiana — I thought you could either be out or you could be in office, but you couldn’t be both,” Buttigieg said.

“I came out in the middle of a re-election campaign because it was just that time in my life when I had to do that,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Pence was governor. We weren’t sure what it would do to my political future in a socially conservative community.”

“I wound up getting re-elected with 80 percent of the vote,” he concluded.

Asked how he could be qualified for the White House having never held statewide office, Buttigieg pointed to his resume: “I actually think that experience is one of the best reasons for somebody like me to be in this — I have more years of government experience than the president.”

“I have more years of executive government experience than the Vice President, and more military experience than anyone to walk into that office since George H. W. Bush,” said the former Navy intelligence officer and veteran of the war in Afghanistan. “Experience is what qualifies me to have a seat at this table.”

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Judge Orders Trump To Restore Press Pass To CNN’s Jim Acosta

CNN reporter Jim Acosta

CNN and Jim Acosta won in court today in their lawsuit to restore Acosta’s suspended press access to the White House as a Trump appointed judge ordered the return of his ‘hard pass.’

From CNBC:

A federal judge on Friday granted CNN’s request for a court order that would temporarily reinstate network correspondent Jim Acosta’s White House press pass, which had been suspended indefinitely in the wake of a fiery exchange between the reporter and President Donald Trump a week earlier.

The ruling from Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by Trump, gave CNN a victory in the ongoing case.

“I want to thank all of my colleagues in the press who supported us this week, and I want to thank the judge for the decision he made today,” Acosta said outside U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

“Let’s go back to work!” he added.

CNN’s lawsuit, announced Tuesday, argues that Acosta’s constitutional rights had been violated by Trump and five other members of his administration, as well as by the U.S. Secret Service. The other defendants include chief of staff John Kelly, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, deputy chief of staff Bill Shine and Secret Service Director Randolph Alles.

In a statement, CNN and Acosta said they “look forward to a full resolution in the coming days.”

In his decision, Kelly ruled that Acosta’s First Amendment rights overruled the White House’s right to have orderly news conferences.

Over several days, the White House has changed its reasoning for suspending Acosta.

At first, Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to say Acosta had physically attacked a White House intern when she reached to take a microphone out of Acosta’s hand as he was asking Donald Trump a question.

Then, the reasoning moved to Acosta being ‘rude.’

Donald Trump and his staff have targeted Acosta since the beginning of the Trump administration for asking actual questions and holding them to answers.

The day a nation’s leader shuts down a free press is a dark day for any country.

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CNN Sues Trump White House For Restoration Of Jim Acosta’s Press Credentials

In the aftermath of the White House revoking CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials, CNN has filed a lawsuit against President Trump and several of his aides, seeking the immediate restoration of Acosta’s access to the White House.

The lawsuit is a response to the White House’s suspension of Acosta’s press pass, known as a Secret Service “hard pass,” last week. The suit alleges that Acosta and CNN’s First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the ban.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday morning. It was docketed and assigned to Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee. CNN is seeking a preliminary hearing as soon as possible.

Both CNN and Acosta are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. There are six defendants: Trump, chief of staff John Kelly, press secretary Sarah Sanders, deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine, Secret Service director Randolph Alles, and the Secret Service officer who took Acosta’s hard pass away last Wednesday.

“CNN filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration this morning in DC District Court,” the statement read. “It demands the return of the White House credentials of CNN’s Chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acosta’s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their Fifth Amendment rights to due process. We have asked this court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass be returned to Jim, and will seek permanent relief as part of this process.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association said it “strongly supports CNN’s goal of seeing their correspondent regain a US Secret Service security credential that the White House should not have taken away in the first place.”

The White House has shifted its explanation for barring Acosta.

Initially, the reason for suspension was “placing his hands” on an intern (he didn’t), but now the issue supposedly is that he kept asking questions.

So, if they think he monopolizes a press conference, why call on him?

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“Failing” CNN Projected To Turn $1.2 Billion Profit In 2018

Donald Trump

To hear Donald Trump tell it,  the “failing” CNN is on its last legs.

And then, there are the facts.

Via Vanity Fair:

The average number of people watching on a given day has been above 700,000 each year since 2016, compared to around 400,000 in the pre-Trump news cycle. That’s also considerably larger than any other time over the past 25 years, an astonishing feat given the ubiquity of news and the decline of cable.

The ratings, of course, skew higher in the evening hours, when the most people are watching all at once.

The average prime-time audience is around a million, compared to fewer than 600,000 when Zucker arrived, in 2013.

According to someone with direct knowledge of the numbers, CNN is projected to turn a $1.2 billion profit on $2.5 billion in revenue this year, making 2018 its most profitable year ever.

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Bombs Sent To Frequent Trump Targets Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton & CNN

Bombs were discovered to have been sent to former President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this morning. The offices of CNN at Time Warner Communication in New York City were also evacuated over a reported explosive device.
Former President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Bombs were discovered to have been sent to former President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this morning.

The offices of CNN at Time Warner Center in New York City were also evacuated over a reported explosive device.

From The New York Times:

Explosive devices were sent to former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as to CNN’s offices in New York, sparking an intense investigation on Wednesday into whether a bomber is going after targets that have often been the subject of right-wing ire.

A law enforcement official said the three devices were similar to one found Monday at the home of George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist and liberal donor who has come under fierce criticism from conservatives and conspiracy theorists.

None of the devices harmed anyone. Law enforcement officials said they were investigating whether all the devices were sent by the same person or persons.

Clinton, Obama, Soros and CNN have all been frequent targets of Donald Trump in his campaign rhetoric.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement condemning “the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton and other public figures.”

“These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said Sanders according to the Associated Press. “The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards.”

According to several reports, the package mailed to CNN’s offices was addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, who has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration since becoming a CNN commentator.

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News Round-Up: February 23, 2018

(image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Fitness model Quin Bruce looks ready for date night. #ThatFace #ThoseArms #Woof

 • Sixteen year-old Joshua Rush, who plays the Disney Channel’s first openly gay character on Andi Mack, says it was important to him to “do it right.”

• Members of the Republican-controlled Virginia House of Delegates on Thursday killed a proposed amendment to the House budget bill that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to its nondiscrimination provision.

• In the aftermath of last week’s school massacre in Parkland, Florida, several major businesses are ending their partnerships with the National Rifle Association.

• According to Donald Trump, CNN and MSNBC are “failing.” But not according to the latest info from the Standard Media Index which shows that MSNBC grew its revenue from from January 2017 to last month by a 62% and CNN jumped 32% year-over-year. Fox News showed a polite 17% increase.

• Brendan Fraser says a Hollywood bigwig sexually assaulted him by fondling his butt (and more) and the incident affected his acting career.

• Out bronze medalist Adam Rippon says with the Olympics coming to a close, he would definitely take time to chat with Vice President Mike Pence about LGBT issues.

But – Rippon doesn’t think the two have much to chat on: “Mike Pence doesn’t stand for anything that I was taught when I grew up, and I think that it’s important if you’re given the platform to speak up for those who don’t have a voice.”