After years of alleging that former-President Trump and, by extension, the Republican Party where doing the bidding of tyrannical Vladimir Putin, Thursday's edition of CNN Newsroom rolled out the red carpet for propaganda from Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the leader the group currently fomenting civil war in Yemen commonly known as the Houthis, to express why he and his group, like their Iranian patrons, believe in "death to America."
CNN is an international news channeled headquartered in Atlanta, but they act like they don't really owe a single thing to America.
After covering the humanitarian catastrophe that has resulted as a result of the Yemeni Civil War, which CNN's chyron placed solely on the shoulders of the United States and Saudi Arabia, London-based international correspondent Nima Elbagir moved onto the politics of it all.
Alluding to President Biden's desire to bring about an end to the war, Elbagir asked "Do you trust America to take forward negotiations to bring peace here in Yemen?"
Despite the fact that Biden revoked the terrorist organization label from the Houthis, al-Houthi replied, "Trust must come about decisions and so far we have not seen any concrete decisions being made."
Elbagir did not bring up that move when she followed up by asking, "You’ve spoken about being subjected as a nation to international terror, but three of leaders with in the Ansar Allah movement are designated by the U.S. as terrorists. One of your key slogans talks about death to America. How do you see this as pushing forward the negotiations and the possibility of piece in the future?"
al-Houthi replied like any good propagandist would, saying "When we say death to America, they're effectively killers with their bombs and rockets and blockades. They provide logistics and intelligence support and their participation in the battle so who is bigger and greater, the ones who are killing us, or the ones who say death to them."
The CNN reporter didn't ask about the fuller Houthi slogan: "God is Greater, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam." That might make for an awkward moment when chunks of this interview ran on Jake Tapper's show.
With the conclusion of the interview, Elbagir returned to voiceover, "The Biden administration has announced it has withdrawn support for the Saudi offensive, but it comes after six long years of war and for the children, dying of hunger, it still hasn't brought peace any quicker. Peace and help can't come soon enough."
If only CNN had a reporter there to ask the Houthis why they responded to Biden's gestures by launching more drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia.
This segment was sponsored by Neutrogena.
Here is a transcript for the March 11 show:
CNN
CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto
10:43 AM ET
NIMA ELBAGIR: Yemen has been devastated by a civil war which has pitted Iran-backed Ansar Allah, known as Houthis against the recognized government and a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition. We're in Houthi territory, some of whose officials have been designated as terrorists by the U.S. for targeting neighboring Saudi Arabia. We've been granted a rare interview with a leading Houthi official. We must meet in an undisclosed location because his aides say of the threat of assassination. We ask him to respond to allegations they are escalating this war.
MOHAMMED ALI AL-HOUTHI [VIA TRANSLATOR]: Not true at all. The battle is continuing and it has not stopped.
ELBAGIR: Do you trust America to take forward negotiations to bring peace here in Yemen.
AL-HOUTHI: Trust must come about decisions and so far we have not seen any concrete decisions being made.
ELBAGIR: You’ve spoken about being subjected as a nation to international terror, but three of leaders with in the Ansar Allah movement are designated by the U.S. As terrorists. One of your key slogans talks about death to America. How do you see this as pushing forward the negotiations and the possibility of piece in the future?
AL-HOUTHI: When we say death to America, they're effectively killers with their bombs and rockets and blockades. They provide logistics and intelligence support and their participation in the battle so who is bigger and greater, the ones who are killing us, or the ones who say death to them.
ELBAGIR: The Biden administration has announced it has withdrawn support for the Saudi offensive, but it comes after six long years of war and for the children, dying of hunger, it still hasn't brought peace any quicker. Peace and help can't come soon enough.
