Somehow, CNN thought it’d be an excellent idea to give New Day co-host Chris Cuomo a week-long tryout for a possible primetime show. Needless to say, Cuomo made a fool of himself on Wednesday, pushing fake news about climate change and alleging storms like Hurricane Harvey are happening “every other year.”
Cuomo went down that rabbit hole during his latest duel with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, stating that “[o]ne of the themes that's coming out of this, and it's not a discussion just to have now, but certainly in the weeks and months as we move forward, is whether or not what happened in Harvey and why it's happening and why these storms happen open up a discussion about the role of climate change.”
When he asked if President Trump “is...open to that conversation,” Conway shot back:
Chris, we're trying to help the people whose lives are literally underwater. And you want to have a conversation about climate change. I mean, that is -- I'm not going to engage in that right now, because I work for a President and a vice President and a country that is very focused on helping the millions of affected Texans and God forbid Louisiana, if it ends up making landfall there.
Cuomo showed his utter clueless and willingness to spread dangerously fake news that somehow climate changes policies (ex. the Paris deal) would “reduce the number of these storms” just as NBC’s Ron Allen did in October 2016.
Pushing even more fake news, Cuomo posed this egregiously loony question to Conway: “Imagine if we could figure out why a hundred-year storm seems to happen every other year and you have all these scientist saying climate change is part of the equation.”
Here’s the facts. No major hurricane (category three and up) had made landfall in the United States before Harvey since 2005 when there were four such hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. mainland.
Yes, Sandy was one of the costliest hurricanes ever in 2012, but it was a category one at landfall and, naturally, there’s going to be catastrophic damage to an area not used to hurricanes with buildings that weren’t built to sustain Sandy’s conditions.
In addition, the most devastating hurricanes have struck in 1900, 1935, 1969, 1989, 1992, 2005, and 2012. Notice how they’re spaced out and not back-to-back as Cuomo claimed? That’s why Cuomo’s “every other year” statement should be the kind of quote examined by Politifact and Snopes if they were actually concerned about being real fact-checks instead of liberal hacks.
Back to the Cuomo vs. Conway duel, Conway lit into Cuomo for this line of questioning:
CONWAY: Chris, seriously? Are you going to play climatologist tonight? Okay, I’ll tell you what.
CUOMO: It's just a — it’s a question about whether or not the administration is open. It seems the answer is no.
CONWAY: We'll assume — no, I didn't say that, Chris, and you don't need to put words in my mouth.
CUOMO: Well, you berated me for asking the question and made it sound as if I weren't caring about the situation.
CONWAY: No — I’m exposing —
CUOMO: I think the cause of this storm matters.
She then continued, calling out Cuomo as an “amateur climatologist”:
I'm exposing the irony of the conversation. Here's the deal, you play amateur climatologist tonight and I will play professional helper to those in need and continue in my job here as counselor to the President to help listen to the cabinet members, the President, the Vice President, FEMA, DHS, and others, General Kelly, who could not be a better chief of staff equipped for a matter like Harvey because he was at DHS and is accustomed to large-scale operations and such and I will, and we're going to talk to the governors of the two states and the locally elected officials and the NGOs an non-governmental organizations, the faith-based groups, the volunteers on the ground, neighbor-to-neighbors, stranger-to-stranger rescuing each other. I'm going to focus on them for in the short-term, perhaps the long-term.
Boom! Cuomo later tried to save face, arguing that caring about the people affected by Harvey “doesn't mean that you do that to the exclusion of questions of why storms happen” because “[a]t some point that could be part of the conversation. I asked about it, you gave an answer.”
Earlier in the marathon interview, Cuomo insisted on claiming that relitigating the debate over Hurricane Sandy relief was relevant to Harvey because, you know, folks like Cuomo are still bitter and vindictive about how that all panned out four years ago.
Here’s a portion of that exchange:
CUOMO: I am suggesting that he's got to get the GOP in line, because those senators who said it was pork laden like Ted Cruz were wrong. They were playing politics. And that's why Cruz had to change his position after getting three Pinocchios. It wasn't pork laden. Almost all of that money was Sandy related. Listen to Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, as we know. He said they were playing politics, it was cheap and it was wrong. So I'm asking, how does the President avoid that happening again?
CONWAY: So I answered that already. I think you're playing politics now with something like a tragedy and Harvey. I answered you question. The money will be there. We hope that Republican and Democrats will come together and not politicize it. We see a lot of politics being played. I think instead having the same conversation five different ways in the course of the first three four minutes of this interview, you could be putting up 1-800 numbers or websites or giving people information about pet rescues or diapers or meals —
CUOMO: We can do both.
CONWAY: — or water.
For more on Cuomo’s pathetic politicization of Harvey to make himself feel better, my colleague Kristine Marsh compiled moments from not only Wednesday night but throughout the week. Her post can be found here.
Here’s the relevant transcript from CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time on August 30:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
August 30, 2017
9:17 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: Let's talk about delivering help after Harvey. The President says it is a top priority. Do you have a plan to avoid the politics that got in the way of the Sandy money?
KELLYANNE CONWAY: We hope that everybody puts politics aside, to get help directly to the people in a speedy fashion. I mean, we know, Chris, after the devastating effects of a storm like Harvey, that the recovery, the rebuilding, the relief efforts, they go on infinitely, sometimes it feels like we don't know if it will be weeks, months, years. But this President and Vice President and cabinet stand ready to assist those in need. Housing will be an issue for many people, who are displaced. Their houses are either uninhabitable or destroyed. We know that we've been trying to get food and water to people, over 2.5 million meals. Over 2 million liters of water, as of yesterday, and perhaps more today. Clothing, we know that non-governmental organizations are also helping a great deal. The media are helping to connect people with information. We're grateful for that. But in terms of the funding, we hope that Congress will focus on the President's priority, which is to connect with people in need with the money and the resources that they require to get immediate help, but also to help rebuild their lives.
CUOMO: That's why I ask about the plan. I get the intentions and it's the right intention, especially in this type of emergency situation. But, you know, the cabinet itself is filled with lawmakers who voted against that Sandy money. What will the President do if people play politics with Harvey the way they did with Sandy?
CONWAY: Chris, the President has also said he needs to rely on Congress. We hope it will be bipartisan in nature, so few things in this city have been since we arrived in January. We can't seem to get many Democrats at the table for big, meaningful initiatives and that's very disappointing. Can't have a conversation, let alone a vote on certain things. But we hope when it comes to relief, that the plan will include Democrats and Republicans voting to get that relief. It should also really focus on the task at hand —
CUOMO: Right.
CONWAY: — which is about Harvey and those in the affected areas. So Congress comes back. In the meantime, the President has provided the administration, frankly, is working to coordinate with our local and state officials and also the rest of the administration to access the resources and the capital that we need to provide folks with their immediate relief.
CUOMO: So he's going to have to get the Republicans in line, because they're the ones that blocked the Sandy money last time, Ted Cruz, Ryan, and others. And he's going to have to rethink the FEMA money, isn't he? I mean, making cuts to FEMA and allocating money to the wall, what's the main priority? Harvey or the wall?
CONWAY: Well, Chris, that's not very fair. And I heard you three times in a row get the same sound bite out, so let me reply in kind.
CUOMO: It was the same question just to get a response that's all.
CONWAY: No, that's not fair. I'll answer your question twice. I'll do it a third time. But if you're going to talk about who voted for and against Hurricane Sandy, you have to be fair and reflect the full remarks of the people who say that they voted against what they wanted to vote for hurricane relief, but they voted against what they saw as a pork-laden bill that included many other things. One was for a car for an inspector general. Another was to revamp some building. But they -- this is about getting money to the people.
(....)
CUOMO: I am suggesting that he's got to get the GOP in line, because those senators who said it was pork laden like Ted Cruz were wrong. They were playing politics. And that's why Cruz had to change his position after getting three Pinocchios. It wasn't pork laden. Almost all of that money was Sandy related. Listen to Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, as we know. He said they were playing politics, it was cheap and it was wrong. So I'm asking, how does the President avoid that happening again?
CONWAY: So I answered that already. I think you're playing politics now with something like a tragedy and Harvey. I answered you question. The money will be there. We hope that Republican and Democrats will come together and not politicize it. We see a lot of politics being played. I think instead having the same conversation five different ways in the course of the first three four minutes of this interview, you could be putting up 1-800 numbers or websites or giving people information about pet rescues or diapers or meals —
CUOMO: We can do both.
CONWAY: — or water.(....)
CONWAY: Yes, here's the fact. This President isn't just saying the right thing. He will do the right thing and let’s hope that Congress comes together.
CUOMO: And I'm saying in order for him to do it, Congress has to come together.
CONWAY: No kidding.
CUOMO: And we saw the intention with Sandy and they didn't get it done. Donald Trump, then citizen Trump, rightly criticized the Obama administration and Congress for not getting the money done for Sandy because they play politic politics. That's what I'm saying. You don't have to be defensive about the President. I'm not calling him out.
CONWAY: I'm not defensive at all.
CUOMO: I'm saying, how does he control the Congress?
CONWAY: I don't feel defensive at all except for the people in need and my focus is on them.
CUOMO: And that's the urgency.
CONWAY: My focus is on the people who are affected now and —
CUOMO: That's right.
CONWAY: — not something you want to politicize from five years ago.
CUOMO: But that's what happened.
(....)
CUOMO: Of course, and that's why Chris Christie is making the rounds on television saying in full-throated fashion, don't do it again. You took 60-something days to approve the money because you played politics and you wanted budget set offs and it wasn't a clean bill. Avoid those problems this time. That's all I'm saying. That's not disrespecting the survivors. That is respecting the survivors and making sure they don't get caught up in political mishigas (ph) like happened the last time. That's my point.
CONWAY: Okay.
CUOMO: We agree? Shocking. All right. Let's move on to something else. One of the themes that's coming out of this, and it's not a discussion just to have now, but certainly in the weeks and months as we move forward, is whether or not what happened in Harvey and why it's happening and why these storms happen open up a discussion about the role of climate change. Is the President — is the administration open to that conversation?
CONWAY: Chris, we're trying to help the people whose lives are literally underwater. And you want to have a conversation about climate change. I mean, that is -- I'm not going to engage in that right now, because I work for a President and a vice President and a country that is very focused on helping the millions of affected Texans and God forbid Louisiana, if it end up making landfall there.
CUOMO: Imagine if we could find ways to reduce the number of these storms. Imagine if we could figure out why a hundred-year storm seems to happen every other year and you have all these scientist saying climate change is part of the equation.
CONWAY: Chris, seriously? Are you going to play climatologist tonight? Okay, I’ll tell you what.
CUOMO: It's just a — it’s a question about whether or not the administration is open. It seems the answer is no.
CONWAY: We'll assume — no, I didn't say that, Chris, and you don't need to put words in my mouth.
CUOMO: Well, you berated me for asking the question and made it sound as if I weren't caring about the situation.
CONWAY: No — I’m exposing —
CUOMO: I think the cause of this storm matters.
CONWAY: — I'm exposing the irony of the conversation. here's the deal, you play amateur climatologist tonight and I will play professional helper to those in need and continue in my job here as counselor to the President to help listen to the cabinet members, the President, the Vice President, FEMA, DHS, and others, General Kelly, who could not be a better chief of staff equipped for a matter like Harvey because he was at DHS and is accustomed to large-scale operations and such and I will, and we're going to talk to the governors of the two states and the locally elected officials and the NGOs an non-governmental organizations, the faith-based groups, the volunteers on the ground, neighbor-to-neighbors, stranger-to-stranger rescuing each other. I'm going to focus on them for in the short-term, perhaps the long-term.
