Tag: MSNBC

Posted on

George Takei: Russian Olympics is “situation of good vs evil”

Original Star Trek star and LGBT activist George Takei guested The Last Word to discuss with Lawrence O’Donnell the current issues involving LGBT athletes participating in the Sochi Olympics given the new anti-gay laws passed in Russia.

“This is a situation of good vs. evil,” said the 76-year-old married activist on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. “It is evil that is happening there, and we must not play into Putin’s game.”

Calling the antigay climate in Russia “a terrible situation,” Takei urged athletes, corporations, and everyday citizens to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, scheduled to take place in Sochi, Russia. Alternately, Takei suggested that the 2014 Olympics “must get out of Russia,” suggesting Vancouver, Canada, as a friendly location that already contains the infrastructure to support the Olympics, as it hosted the 2010 Winter Games.

“There are athletes that are gay or lesbian and their supporters are gay or lesbian too, and they are being put in danger and if something horrific happens — and it’s very likely given the kind of history of what’s been happening there — the responsibility is great,” said Takei. “The [International Olympic Committee] can move the Olympics out. There is enough time to do that yet… [But] the clock is ticking.”

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(via Advocate)

Posted on

Alec Baldwin to host new MSNBC show

Word comes from senior sources at MSNBC that Alec Baldwin (seven seasons for NBC’s 30 Rock; frequent host of SNL) will get his own weekly show on the progressive news channel.

From Mediaite:

According to our source, the so far untitled show will air Fridays at 10 p.m. ET and will feature a large dose of Baldwin’s outspoken liberal politics.

The MSNBC 10 p.m. hour is currently occupied by Lawrence O’Donnell, but only Monday through Thursday. As such, this new Baldwin show will not replace any of the network’s primetime talk shows — just the Lockup prison documentary series that airs Friday evenings.

Our source insists its a done deal but there is no question MSNBC is not quite prepared for an announcement. Yet.

For a bit of foreshadowing, perhaps, check out the video below with Alec Baldwin reading teasers for Lawrence O’Donnell in May of 2012. Perhaps the idea for his own show has been in development going all the way back to last spring?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Posted on

Tamron Hall shuts down Tim Carney: ‘You’re Not Gonna Come On And Insult Me’

The Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney probably won’t be getting a call from any of MSNBC’s “NewsNation” bookers about an appearance any time soon.

From Huffington Post: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall asked Tim Carney about Mitt Romney’s testy reaction to a reporter asking about marijuana on Thursday. Before addressing the question, he alleged that she and the rest of the media were focusing too much attention on the candidate’s past — including his bullying of two classmates in high school.

“What you’re doing here is a typical media trick,” Carney charged. “You hype up a story and justify the second-day coverage of the story.”

That set Hall off. She began to tell him that he didn’t have to “answer a single question” she asked or “accept the invitation to come on” and speak. Carney tried to interject, but she told him, “You’re kind of in my house,” and proceeded to smack him down for over a minute.

“You don’t want me to ‘go’ anything on you because you’re actually irritating me right now,” she said. “I’m going to be honest with you … you knew the topics we were going to discuss. You knew them. You agreed. And we are not talking or demeaning — listen, 50 years ago I was a much tougher kid probably than Mitt Romney was in high school. I’m not talking about the issue of whether he was bullying or not. He said he doesn’t remember. To be fair, I cannot say that he does.”

“What I’m asking you about is how the campaign has handled this decision, handled this situation, how he handled the Colorado reporter, how he handled same-sex marriage where he said he agrees with gay parents being able to adopt but he does not agree with same-sex marriage — just the handling of questions beyond the economy. If you’re not comfortable about that, I am A-OK, but you’re not going to come on and insult me. You won’t come on and insult the network when you knew what you were going to talk about.”

“Done. Let me talk to Jimmy. I’m done.”

Hall immediately became a trending topic on Twitter, as people reacted to the segment. Viewers called her a “badass” and a “hero,” and said that she “schooled,” “filleted,” “checked” and “ripped a layer of skin off” Carney.

Posted on

Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin: President Obama will complete his “evolution” today

On MSNBC today, in reference to the President’s upcoming interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, Mark Halperin of TIME Magazine said he expects the President to complete his “evolution” on gay marriage today.

“Every expectation that we will, within the next hour, be in a different world, where we will have a President of the United States who supports the legalization of gay marriage,” Mark Halperin said this afternoon during an appearance on MSNBC. “The Vice President, I think, forced his hand. But even before the Vice President spoke on Meet The Press in favor of gay marriage, the President was headed in this direction,” he added.

Halperin also dissected the many ways – obvious and not so obvious – this political course could help the President in the upcoming election: “If Republicans go after this hard — now, they’ll do it in a micro targeting way if the president changes his position. If Mitt Romney tries to make this a big issue, it takes them off the economy. If this election is fought not on the economy, that’s better for the President, and I think Republicans will see that. I don’t think this will be a huge issue in the election.”

Stay tuned to hear exactly what the President has to say..