Page 9 - HOH

A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 5 February 2020

White House excludes CNN from

Trump session, with no protest

NEW YORK (AP) — The support for CNN, in contrast Perino whether impeach-
White House excluded CNN to the British journalists who ment would be talked
on Tuesday from its annual walked out of a Monday about during the speech,
off-the-record briefing with meeting with an aide to Baier said, "I think it's going
television news personali- Prime Minister Boris Johnson to be a slight mention but
ties prior to the State of the to back competitors who not a big mention."
Union address with no pub- were being kept from the Journalists who have at-
lic protest from the network session. tended the lunches gen-
The chamber of the House of Representatives is seen at the or any other journalists who The lunch on State of the erally consider them a
Capitol in Washington, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, as it is prepared attended. Union day is a tradition that chance to convey things
for President Donald Trump to give his State of the Union address No news organization boy- predates President Donald that are uppermost on
Tuesday night. cotted the event to show Trump. CNN's Wolf Blitzer a president's mind, while
Associated Press and Anderson Cooper at- it's an opportunity for the
tended in 2019. Blitzer has White House to hammer
been to some two de- home talking points.
cades' worth of such meet- This year, CNN was denied
ings. CNN confirmed that any of those insights.
none of its journalists were "It is just outrageous that
invited this year, but it de- the White House is doing
clined comment on the ac- what they're doing," said
tion. The network has been Frank Sesno, director of the
Trump's most frequent tar- School of Media and Public
get in his complaints about Affairs at George Washing-
journalists. ton University and a former
White House Press Secre- CNN Washington bureau
tary Stephanie Grisham de- chief. "It ratchets up the
clined to comment about war with journalists and, as
the lunch. Although journal- far as I'm concerned, the
ists who accept the invita- general public."
tion agree not to report on Bob Schieffer, former eve-
what is said there, details of ning news anchor and
the meeting inevitably slip host of "Face the Nation"
out. In 2017, it was reported on CBS, said he attended
that CBS' Scott Pelley asked many of these State of the
Trump about whether his Union briefings in the past
attacks on journalists could and didn't think CNN was
put some in danger. A year missing much. "To be quite
later, Trump reportedly up- honest about it, it was a fun
braided NBC's Lester Holt thing to do and I always
over an interview he was got a kick out of going,"
unhappy with. Schieffer said, "but I don't
On Tuesday, Fox News think it made much of a dif-
Channel's Bret Baier was in- ference in the coverage."
terviewed on the air shortly That's one of the reasons
after the lunch — with the that Jane Kirtley, director
White House in the back- of the Silha Center for the
ground — giving two de- Study of Media Ethics and
tails that Trump allowed to Law at the University of
be on the record: that his Minnesota, said other jour-
State of the Union address nalists should have taken a
would be "extraordinarily cue from their British coun-
low key," and a prediction terparts and boycotted the
that New York Rep. Alexan- White House meeting.
dria Ocasio-Cortez would "If the stakes are as low as
challenge Senate Minority they are in a case like this,
Leader Chuck Schumer in why not use this as an op-
a primary. portunity to take a stand?"
Asked by colleague Dana Kirtley said.q