Tag: controversy

Gov. Cuomo refuses to come on State of the Union with Jake Tapper

by Allan, posted in CNN

CNN anchor Jake Tapper said on Sunday’s State of the Union program that he has requested an interview with embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo dozens of times over the past year, in addition to this week — all of which the Governor has refused.

Janice Dean, a Fox News meteorologist whose in-laws died as a result of Gov. Cuomo’s executive order, praised Tapper. “While it’s easy to get angry at other networks for not taking [Cuomo] to task early on during the nursing home tragedy, there are some that DID report on his deadly executive order and his incredible arrogance. [Tapper] is one of them.”

Dean added, “While I cannot say the same for many of his other colleagues, [Tapper] has reported fairly and without fear or fluff when it comes to covering [Cuomo].”

The Cuomo administration withheld the information from state lawmakers over the summer because it was worried federal prosecutors would “use it against us,” according to a top aide for Gov. Cuomo, the New York Post reported this week.

As I repeatedly documented at the time, Gov. Cuomo preferred the safe space on CNN — his brother Chris Cuomo’s nightly program, Cuomo Prime Time.

Lemon acknowledges he’s not a straight news anchor, instead he talks “to people about the news”

by Allan, posted in CNN

lemonIn an interview on Medium, CNN Tonight anchor Don Lemon spoke candidly about the differences he sees between himself and NBC anchor Lester Holt, who is another high-profile black news journalist.

“We’re both news anchors, but our jobs are different. Lester does a straight newscast every night. I do two hours of mostly just talking to people about the news. Some people are not going to like what I have to say. If I was just sitting there every night, tossing to reporters and packaged stories and then saying good night at the end, there would not be this criticism of me. There would not be so much fodder and people talking about me all the time.”

He added, “But I have the most editorial freedom of anyone [at CNN], considering the time of night and the kind of person that I am.”

Lemon revealed he quit following President Trump on Twitter (the president previously called Lemon “the dumbest man on television”).

He noted he doesn’t generally respond to most of the hate about him. “I have a show that’s on CNN every night. If I have an issue with something, I am free to respond to it there or not. And most of the time I choose not to.”

On the tension between himself, fellow primetime hosts Anderson Cooper and Chris Cuomo, he said: “There’s competition, but it’s not a secret. Everybody is competitive. Everyone wants to put on a good show. Everyone wants the best show and the big story, and everyone wants to be first, but more than first, we want to be accurate and everyone wants to have the higher ratings. I mean, there’s competition amongst siblings. Right. Do you have sisters and brothers? Were you guys competitive? Are they competitive? Do they love each other? Of course.”

Trump campaign demands CNN’s Brian Stelter apologize for “sexist” comments made on-air Sunday

by Allan, posted in CNN

stelterThe Donald J. Trump re-election campaign is demanding an apology from CNN host and media correspondent Brian Stelter following a trainwreck, shout-fest interview with senior legal advisor Jenna Ellis that took place over about twelve minutes on CNN’s Reliable Sources Sunday morning. The pair was arguing over CNN’s poll — she called it “junk,” while Stelter maintained it was “a normal polling procedure.”

Ellis asked if Stelter was going to continue interrupting, and he replied, “It’s important to interrupt when you share fake information. You’re wasting my time.”

It didn’t get better from there.

Stelter said towards the end of the trainwreck a remark many have labeled as “sexist:” – “Someday, you‘re going to regret this when your kids and grandkids look back at this time.”

“This kind of on-air meltdown and lashing out is completely unprofessional, yet it’s what we’ve come to expect from the leftists who hate President Trump. It would be great if so-called journalists would refrain from personal attacks and putting words in the mouths of the children and grandchildren of strong, smart, and independent women,” Ali Pardo, the campaign’s deputy communications director, said in a statement to the NY Post after Ellis’ appearance with Stelter.

“We condemn Brian Stelter’s behavior and call on CNN and Stelter to apologize,” she added.

So far . . . Stelter has declined to comment.

Well, I have a comment: It was a mutual trainwreck, but Stelter should apologize for his comment. Sexist? Probably not. But unnecessary? Yup.

Don Lemon: “This is my time to be me on TV”

by Allan, posted in CNN

don-lemon“I love what I do right now. I feel like I found my voice and found my groove. This is my time to be me on TV,” CNN Tonight anchor, Don Lemon, 54, tells the Los Angeles Times. Though he does note, “I think about how much longer I can continue to do this at this pace and the amount of negativity that comes my way.” Lemon regularly hosts two hours of television, and with breaking news, is sometimes on even longer — and as of late, he’s been anchoring on Sunday nights, too.

The 2.4 million people watching Lemon’s program in May was up 75% from the previous year, the most growth of any cable news show that month, according to Nielsen data.

Regarding Lemon’s “maturation” as a host, CNN president Jeff Zucker said, “I think he knows how important this moment is — he’s been preparing for it his entire career. Don has always brought a little of himself and his emotion to his reporting and that’s why he’s stood out. On this story, he’s done it in an insightful and measured way that I don’t know the Don Lemon of six years ago would have done.”

Though Lemon’s mother is still concerned about him. “I am very proud of him. The only thing I don’t like is how people attack him. I’m concerned about his safety. I don’t care how old he gets. That’s my child. I’m always concerned about him.”

“[My work has] garnered me a lot of enemies,” Lemon agreed. “A lot of them in person as well. I have to watch my back over it.”

Don Lemon’s sexual assault accuser says Lemon offered six-figure settlement, expects witnesses to be deposed soon

by Allan, posted in CNN

gettyimages-931520608-h_2018Dustin Hice, who accused CNN Tonight anchor Don Lemon of sexual assault in August 2019 said the lawsuit is still going forward, despite covid-19 related delays, according to Fox News’ report. At the time, it was alleged that Hice “tried to get Mr. Lemon’s attention and offered to buy Mr. Lemon a drink,” but Lemon declined, stating he was “just trying to have a good time.”

According to Hice, “Mr. Lemon, who was wearing a pair of shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, put his hand down the front of his own shorts, and vigorously rubbed his genitalia, removed his hand and shoved his index and middle fingers in Plaintiff’s moustache and under Plaintiff’s nose.”

Thereafter, Lemon retained Carolini Polisi as counsel; Polisi regularly appeared on CNN’s air prior to him retaining her services. In response to Fox’s report, she declined to comment.

“It’s definitely been affected by coronavirus, we would have probably already have had discovery a couple of months ago but everything was closed because of the virus in New York,” Dustin Hice told Fox News. “It was the most degrading, humiliating thing I’ve ever been through and it’s been dragged out. I hate it.”

Written discovery demands are due by July 20, all discovery must be complete by Dec. 15 and dispositive motions are set for Feb. 2021. Roughly “ten fact witnesses” are expected to be called, according to Fox.

Lemon offered a six-figure settlement before talks broke down and the formal complaint was filed, according to Hice, which he did not accept.

CNN didn’t respond to Fox’s report, though at the time of August 2019, Lemon “categorically denied” Hice’s allegations.

VPOTUS to CNN: If you want top health experts on CNN, air the briefings in full

by Allan, posted in CNN

Vice President Mike Pence’s office has blocked top health experts, including Drs. Birx and Fauci, from appearing on CNN since last Thursday, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reports. His office is running the booking of the top doctors, and says if CNN wants them back on air, CNN needs to air President Trump’s coronavirus briefings in its entirety instead of only pieces of it.

However, a CNN executive told Darcy that the network usually returns to programming after a certain point because of the extensive length of the full briefing that includes Pence, which can run in excess of two hours.

“When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air,” a Pence spokesperson told CNN.

CNN declined to comment on Darcy’s story.

CNN lifts the ban on Chris Cuomo interviewing his brother in favor of “authenticity and relatability”

by Allan, posted in CNN

I, like many, have criticized and long observed on the instances where, at the launch of New Day, anchor Chris Cuomo would interview the New York governor — his brother, Andrew Cuomo.

But as the New York Times reports, word came from up high that Cuomo was to no longer interview his brother in 2013; instead, co-anchors would conduct the interview, as warranted.

But that all changed on March 11 when CNN execs “greenlighted” Cuomo interviewing the elder Cuomo, NYT reports.

Cuomo acknowledged the obvious conflict of interest. “There will come a time when there’s an accountability measure where it will no longer make sense for it to be me” interviewing the governor, he said.

However, since his coronavirus announcement, his ratings on Cuomo Prime Time have nearly tripled.

After all, last week, Cuomo appeared at his brother’s coronavirus press conference via video conferencing to discuss his symptoms and update the public.

CNN president Jeff Zucker told the Times, “You get trust from authenticity and relatability and vulnerability. That’s what the brothers Cuomo are giving us right now.”

Chief Jeff Zucker defends airing Trump’s coronavirus pressers, says he gets more calls about this than anything else

by Allan, posted in CNN

CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker held a conference call this morning with CNNers, the Daily Beast reports, where he defended not cutting away from President Trump’s (sometimes) misleading press conferences. Zucker admitted he has “probably spent more time on this topic than anything else, believe it or not,” and that he gets more calls and emails on the subject than any other topic.

According to the report, Zucker argued it was important for the public to hear from physicians, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Birx, and that the public needed to hear the president answer tough questions from the press.

“As of now, we are going to continue to carry those briefings,” Zucker concluded.

CNN insiders have been very hesitant and bristle at the network airing the pressers in their entirety.