CNN Newsroom

CNN's Don Lemon committed heresy on Sunday night.

In his "No Talking Points" segment on CNN Newsroom, he had the unmitigated audacity to challenge Barack Obama while agreeing with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Over the last few decades, the liberal media have celebrated Earth Day and used it to spread the gospel of green liberalism. CNN's Sunday reporting was no exception as the network touted public figures headlining an Earth Day rally in Washington, D.C., like the city's Democratic Mayor Vincent Gray and the rock band Cheap Trick.

However, for the March for Life rally in January that was attended by at least tens of thousands of pro-lifers, CNN gave it two brief mentions on-air. In contrast, while reportedly only hundreds showed up to celebrate Earth Day on the National Mall, CNN touted it as a "big rally" and covered it in-depth on Sunday afternoon, telling its viewers "we want you to know all about this." [Video below the break. Audio here.]

On today's 3:00 pm edition of CNN Newsroom, anchor Brooke Baldwin teased her next segment:

BALDWIN: Coming up next, House Republicans they want to cut billions of dollars in food stamps. We will talk about who exactly in terms of numbers this would impact and why my next guest calls this whole suggestion appalling -- back in 60 seconds.

Baldwin interviewed Edward Cooney, executive director of the Congressional Hunger Center.  She didn't note that, despite its official-sounding name, the center is just another 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization taking money from companies such as Walmart, Kraft, and Archer Daniel Midland, as well public funding for fellowships.  Nor that Cooney had worked at the Department of Agriculture during the Clinton administration.  Nor that Cooney has made political contributions to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and ActBlue, which characterizes itself as "the online clearing house for Democratic action." 

As NewsBusters previously reported, CNN's Don Lemon two Saturdays ago advocated journalists actually say the N-word in news reports rather than the more politically correct, sanitized version we've grown accustomed to in recent years.

On Sunday, I chatted with Lemon about this issue - along with Big Journalism's Dana Loesch - on CNN Newsroom (video follows with transcript and lengthy commentary):

The media is beginning to investigate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith and its racial history, and CNN continued the race narrative on Wednesday morning when it wondered if Romney is simply writing off the African-American vote.

Apparently, CNN never got the memo that Herman Cain all but officially endorsed Romney on Tuesday. Citing a Daily Beast report that Romney has no high-profile African-American endorsements or staffers, CNN's Carol Costello went ahead and asked if the candidate was "kissing off African-American voters". [Video below the break. Audio here.]

According to Muslim comedian and CNN regular Dean Obeidallah, Rick Santorum speaks the language of "the Taliban" when he talks about the intersection of church and state in America. On CNN Sunday night, liberal host Don Lemon decided to have a religious discussion for Easter Sunday, and his first question was about the separation of church and state.

Obeidallah has attacked Santorum in the past, and found a way to bring him into the discussion. He referred to Santorum "saying the Bible and our laws must comport," adding later that "He was saying the same things honestly that the Taliban would say, that religious scripture and the laws of that state must agree." [Video below the break. Audio here.]

As NewsBusters reported earlier, CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti said "f--king n--ger" on the air Easter Sunday.

Less than 24 hours earlier, CNN's Don Lemon advocated "n--ger" be used during news reports rather than the more politically correct "N-word" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On today's CNN Newsroom, anchor Kyra Phillips interviewed Rep. Allen West (R-FL) about several topics.  One was gay marriage (video here).  West said that it's a states' issue and he didn't want to be taken "down a rabbit hole to discuss things that really aren't that important.  This disturbed Phillips:

In a Thursday morning interview on CNN, RNC chairman Reince Priebus called out host Carol Costello for reading Democratic talking points. Costello had just told her guest that she was trying to wean him away from his talking points, but one can only wonder if she would do the same to DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

When Costello told him "I'm just trying to get you off your talking points," Priebus retorted "Well, you've been reading the Democratic talking points for the last seven minutes, Carol." [Video below the break.]

Four days before the holiest time of the year for Christians, CNN.com actually asked, "How ethical is your Easter basket?"

This was the headline for the video of a CNN Newsroom segment Wednesday about child slaves being used to harvest cocoa in West Africa (video follows with fuller transcript and commentary):

Discussing gun laws in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting, CNN's Carol Costello played Bill Maher's liberal grievance about the lack of "sensible" gun laws. Costello then asked why no one was "talking seriously about America's gun laws?" during Tuesday's 10 a.m. hour of Newsroom.

The fact that CNN was giving such attention to a liberal comedian before adding on to his commentary and questioning America's gun laws is telling. And given the network's past bias, it's safe to say that Costello was toeing the liberal line and pushing for stricter gun laws for law-abiding citizens. [Video below the break.]

After another bad day at the Supreme Court for the Obama administration's health care law, journalists on MSNBC and CNN marveled at how the President's signature legislation seemed to be unraveling. Appearing on MSNBC, HD Net reporter Brooks Silva-Braga compared the Solicitor General (who defended the law in front of the court) to an embarrassed child.

Silva-Braga mocked, "If you've ever been to a fifth grade play and looked into the eyes of a kid who is not sure if he's going to remember his lines, that's what Donald Verrilli looked like yesterday." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] On CNN, Jeffrey Toobin, who on Tuesday reversed a previous prediction of an easy win for Obama, sneered that Obamacare had become a "plane wreck." 

For the second day in a row, CNN appealed to emotion and aired the story of an innocent chid that made the case for ObamaCare. On Tuesday morning they featured a heartrending account of an epileptic three year-old girl who will soon reach her lifetime benefit limits on health insurance – if the Supreme Court strikes down ObamaCare.

CNN correspondent Elizabeth Cohen made the Court's decision as personal as possible, even though the Court is simply determining the constitutionality of the bill. "These nine Supreme Court justices will forever affect the life of 3-year-old Violet McManus," she gravely began. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

According to CNN host Carol Costello, the White House failed to sell a health care bill that could have been embraced by the American people, many of whom "simply don't understand" the bill.

So during Monday morning's coverage of the Supreme Court hearings on ObamaCare's constitutionality, CNN explained some benefits the bill provides and gave the reason for the individual insurance mandate. Costello did her best impersonation of a White House advisor, explaining the bill's mandate to a public who doesn't understand it yet. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

CNN commentator Dean Obeidallah has some advice for politicians who are offended by gross and vile insults from comedians: "change the channel."

Comedians like Bill Maher and Louis C.K. must have an "unfettered right" to spew their vitriol at politicians like Sarah Palin, insisted Obeidallah in a CNN.com op-ed. Such insults "come with the territory" of running for office, he told CNN host Brooke Baldwin on Thursday afternoon's Newsroom. [Video below the break.]

In light of Rick Santorum's promise to "vigorously enforce" federal obscenity laws, CNN questioned whether any candidate should even be talking about pornography right now. Host Fredricka Whitfield expressed her disbelief that the subject was even in the news conversation, during Friday's 11 a.m. hour of Newsroom.

Santorum has not made the issue the centerpiece of his campaign, as GOP strategist Ana Navarro pointed out. It is, however, an important matter for social conservatives who make up a strong voting bloc for the candidate. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

ABC broadcasted two completely one-sided reports on Thursday's World News and Nightline on the supposed "huge spike in the number of Americans operating in the shadows, trying to take down the U.S. government even with violence," as anchor Diane Sawyer put it. Correspondent Dan Harris's main external source for his reports was a media favorite, the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center [audio clips available here].

As she introduced Harris's first report on World News, Sawyer trumped that "a new study finds there are now nearly 1,300 militias and other extremist groups in this country, an increase from 149 groups in 2008. And one of the fastest-growing groups is called 'sovereign citizens.'" However, an examination of the SPLC's report in question find that many of these supposed "extremist" groups have been around for longer than four years, and the only change is that the leftist organization recently designated them as such.

[Update, 09:27 pm Eastern: audio added above; video below the jump]

CNN let the liberal Southern Poverty Law Center brand many right-wing "patriot" groups as "extremist" and racist on Friday afternoon. CNN host Brooke Baldwin simply listened to the SPLC talking points and concernedly asked what was being done to "combat" the "paranoia" of "anti-government activism."

The SPLC had previously placed the Family Research Council alongside Klan members and neo-Nazis in a list of "hate" groups, but CNN did not question their study then. They continued to accept their liberal "expertise" on Friday, not challenging whether certain groups belonged in the "extremist" category. [Video below the break.]

CNN's Kyra Phillips asked a Catholic bishop on Thursday "why not get on board" with dissenting Catholics who favor gay marriage. Given CNN's past support for LGBT causes, they clearly would not question the motives of a religious minister favoring gay marriage.

In fact, in 2010 Phillips fawned over a Christian pastor who publicly began accepting the lifestyle of gays and lesbians. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Liberal comedian Pete Dominick, a CNN contributor, listed the "differences" he saw between Rush Limbaugh's crack at Sandra Fluke and Bill Maher ripping Sarah Palin in vile fashion, on CNN Wednesday. "[T]here still is a difference in terms of what comedians say," he said of Maher versus "arguably" the "most influential commentator in all of politics" Rush Limbaugh.

Perhaps his most ridiculous point was that Limbaugh was "quite literal" calling Fluke a "slut," whereas Maher just made "gender-based insults" calling Sarah Palin obscenities that were just as vile. [Warning: this article contains obscenities that are uncensored to accurately portray what Bill Maher has said about women.]

Michele Bachmann complained that although the media are outraged over an insult of Sandra Fluke, "there is no level of vitriol that's beyond the pale" when the victims are conservative women. CNN's Howard Kurtz questioned that assumption since Bachmann ran for president and should have expected "a lot of criticism." Apparently, running for president nowadays subjects you and your family to vile, obscene, personal insults – and you should simply expect it.

When then-candidate Obama was the target of a fraction of the vitriol Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann received as presidential candidates, the media rushed to his defense and rightfully did not tolerate such invective being a part of the presidential process. [Warning: this article includes uncensored vulgarities to accurately represent what certain members of the media have said about conservative women.]

In the wake of Rush Limbaugh calling a Georgetown law student a "slut," CNN hosted the president of the liberal National Organization for Women who called for Limbaugh to be fired, on Monday morning's 10 a.m. hour of Newsroom. They did not give such a voice to supporters of conservative women last year when those women were under attack from liberals.

When liberal radio host Ed Schultz called Laura Ingraham a slut last May, CNN did not host the president of NOW to call for his termination at MSNBC. In fact, the network covered the outrage over Limbaugh's smear of Sandra Fluke far more than Ed Schultz's rant last May. A Nexis search revealed 35 hits for CNN's coverage of Limbaugh's "slut" remark since March 1, versus just four reports on Schultz in the week following his comment. [Video below the break.]

In light of Monday's school shooting in Ohio, CNN hyped the alarm of gun control activists over the repeal of a Virginia handgun regulation, and also evoked the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre where 33 students lost their lives.

CNN's Kate Bolduan interviewed the father of a victim of the Tech shooting and asked him about his opposition to the handgun limit's repeal. She gave him a sympathetic interview but hosted no one from the other side to argue in favor of overturning the law. [Video below the break.]

Correction appended below page break | Breitbart.com's editor-in-chief went right after CNN for its treatment of the late Andrew Breitbart, when asked about the "controversial" journalist's "tactics" in the Shirley Sherrod incident. The interview took place Thursday afternoon during the 1 p.m. hour of CNN's Newsroom.

Joel Pollock, a friend of Breitbart's, accused CNN of telling a story "completely contrary" to what Breitbart actually did, and challenged the network to "rethink" the way it treated him. "I'm going to do an Andrew Breitbart and ask you if CNN has rethought its tactics on the issue," he contended to CNN host Zoraida Sambolin. [Video below the break.]

CNN's Don Lemon launched a heavy defense of President Obama's apology for the Koran burnings in Afghanistan, in lieu of criticism Obama has received from GOP presidential candidates. In his Sunday night segment entitled "No Talking Points," Lemon ironically threw Democratic talking points at the Republicans.

Lemon claimed neutrality over Obama's apology before offering all the reasons why it is not the scandal Republicans are claiming it to be. Lemon quoted Presidents Bush, Clinton, and Reagan apologizing for the slave trade, the Abu Gharib prison scandal, and the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. [Video below the break. Click here for audio.]

Republicans are deceitfully playing with words to avoid being slammed as homophobes, racists, and bigots, claimed CNN contributor L.Z. Granderson on Tuesday morning's Newsroom. Anchor Kyra Phillips simply let Granderson air his liberal diatribe without any challenge, and no conservative guest was brought on to respond.

Republicans "aren't fighting for Muslims and mosques," said Granderson of their claims of "religious freedom," but simply "fighting for Christianity." [Video below. Click here for audio.]

Liberal women were in an uproar over the all-male panel at Thursday's congressional hearing on the HHS birth control mandate, and CNN made sure to tout their displeasure. Anchor Hala Gorani emphasized the "fireworks" over the hearing while ignoring the Republican explanation as to why a female pro-birth control witness was refused participation in the panel.

Gorani played clips of two Democratic congresswomen decrying the all-male panel and gave the Democratic talking points as to why two congresswomen left the hearing in protest. "The two Democratic women tried to get a witness added who favors birth control services, but were refused. Thus, the walkout," Gorani tersely explained. [Video below the break.]

CNN gave a measly eleven seconds of coverage to the 2011 March for Life, attended by an estimated 100,000 people, but they saw fit to give more time on Wednesday to a "Dogs Against Romney" protest of about a dozen participants.

Correspondent Jeanie Moos admitted that the tiny protest "was a treat we in the media couldn't resist." She was on the scene Tuesday to interview "doggie protesters" ripping GOP candidate Mitt Romney for an incident that occurred 19 years ago, and even touted an Obama campaign tweet sniping at Romney for the very same reason. [Video below the break. Click here for audio.]

Serving up some pro-Obama spin, CNN's Don Lemon asked Obama's HHS Secretary on Friday if the outrage over the administration's contraception mandate was not genuine, but rather ginned up by conservatives to hurt the President in an election year.

Lemon cited Obama as he noted that many Catholics use contraception, and then he asked HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius if she thought the widespread outrage over the mandate was "manufactured." Ironically, Sebelius disagreed with that assessment. [Video below the break.]