Somehow, CNN and puppetmaster Jeffrey Zucker thought it would be a smart idea to move New Day co-host Chris Cuomo, punishing those of us who stay up late.
Friday’s New Day gave us a sneak peek (along with two trial runs) of what Cuomo PrimeTime will be like as he badgered State Department senior official Heather Nauert by connecting the North Korean peace talks to the ugly remark by a White House staff about ailing Republican Senator John McCain (AZ).
Cuomo led into Nauert by recapping the massive foreign policy accomplishments this week for the Trump administration while adding the jab that “all of that now in the context of this very ugly incident that the White House has all but ignored so let's get a take on it all from someone in a position of power.”
“Alright, let's dispense with something that should be pretty simple. Do you believe the White House should come out and say what was said about John McCain was wrong, shouldn't be said, it's mean and should the President echo that message and right away,” asked Cuomo.
Nauert dodged it by telling him that she’s “not exactly sure what you’re referring to” because the State Department has been hard at work focused on a portfolio of issues like Israel, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Yemen instead of “the politics here at home.”
Cuomo seemed offended, arguing with Nauert that the swipe at McCain by Kelly Sadler was “not politics” even though “[e]verything you just said is really important, Heather, and we’re going to touch on all of it” and “I promise you that.”
From there, the former Fox News journalist laid waste to Cuomo’s smugness and informing him of her connection to the McCain (presumably daughter Meghan) (click “expand” to read more):
NAUERT: Chris, I don't know why you want to start this being argumentative.
CUOMO: I'm not being argumentative.
NAUERT: I am — Let me just say —
CUOMO: It's a pretty easy say. I'm letting you say what you want in response, that's your choice, but this isn't politics, this is about decency.
NAUERT: Okay, Chris, you told me you wanted to talk about Senator McCain, who by the way I have a tremendous amount of respect for.
CUOMO: I'm sure you do.
NAUERT: And I'm in touch with his family. My father died of the same type of cancer that he did. He is an American hero. Had you told me that you wanted to speak about Senator McCain, I might have something to say about that but I can tell you here from the State Department that we are focused on all the activities that we have been very committed to over the past few months and several weeks.
CUOMO: Alright, but obviously when something like that is said, and we have somebody who's a State official with great authority and insight into how matters like this should be handled —
NAUERT: Chris, again, let me tell you —
CUOMO:— that’s why I’m asking you. You can’t expect to be asked about this, Heather.
NAUERT: Chris —
CUOMO: We both know that. You did this job.
NAUERT: I'm not familiar with what you were referring to. If you want to send me a quote —
CUOMO: You're not familiar with what was said about “he's dying anyway” by one of the White House staff in a meeting? It's been all over the media for the last 24 hours?
NAUERT: I've seen that. I don't know this individual.
CUOMO: So you are familiar.
NAUERT: I don't know this individual. I've seen that and now thank you for telling me exactly what you were referring to. I don't know this individual who allegedly said that. I'm not familiar with it and I'll leave it at that.
CUOMO: Okay.
Cuomo relented and moved to what Nauert was actually slated to discuss, hitting Nauert with anti-Trump talking points that Trump’s thanking of Kim Jong-un for releasing the prisoners was “beyond flattery.”
Nauert replied that this marked “a positive step in the right direction” and the administration is “clear eyed and realistic” about incremental progress with the authoritarian regime.
Showing his far-left credentials, bombastic behavior, and commitment to CNN’s agenda, he somehow tied this history-making push to....the McCain remark.
Cuomo tied it together by saying that “[t]he President says he believes his tough talk is what got us to this point” and that was his link to McCain in that, somehow, stating McCain will be “dying anyway” was in the same vain. He also accused Nauert of subscribing to “the principle of you ignored, you empower.”
Nauert again threw it back at Cuomo (click “expand”):
NAUERT: Excuse me, what I ignored? I don't know what you're talking about.
CUOMO: I’m not talking about you. Well, you ignored the question that what really matters about what's going on in the White House and treating McCain in such an undignified way
NAUERT: Chris, I — I think I —
CUOMO: — but the President is ignoring Kim Jong-un's record —
NAUERT: — answered that for you very clearly. I’m here at the State Department.
CUMO: I don't think so but we've moved on. I’m saying I'm giving you proper context for this question.
NAUERT: Alright. Go right ahead, Chris.
The smug CNN host then accused the Trump administration of having “a forgiving perspective” concerning North Korea’s unimaginable human atrocities. Nauert snapped back that “that is your word” because “[t]his administration is hardly forgiving” and “tough on North Korea.”
Cuomo later seemed to place blame on the U.S. government (with encouragement from the Israelis) leaving the Iran deal for Iran firing missiles into Israel from Syria.
The amount of liberal hackery Nauert put up with showed as, after Cuomo thanked her for coming on, Nauert didn’t say “thank you,” “my pleasure,” or “anytime.” Rather, she just said “[o]kay, Chris.” With the way he treated her, most people would have said worse.
To see the relevant transcript from CNN’s New Day on May 11, click “expand.”
CNN’s New Day
May 11, 2018
8:14 a.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: This has been a big week of international developments. We got three Americans home under President Trump's stewardship and urging. He's taken the country out of the Iran nuclear deal. He's set up the date and place for the North Korean summit. We have the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem coming next week and all of that now in the context of this very ugly incident that the White House has all but ignored so let's get a take on it all from someone in a position of power. Heather Nauert, acting Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public affairs. She traveled to Pyongyang with Secretary of State Pompeo this week to secure the release of three American detainees, a mission that was of course successful. Heather, thank you for joining us.
H
EATHER NAUERT: Good morning, Chris, great to see you.
CUOMO: Alright, let's dispense with something that should be pretty simple. Do you believe the White House should come out and say what was said about John McCain was wrong, shouldn't be said, it's mean and should the President echo that message and right away?
NAUERT: Chris, I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to.
CUOMO: Really?
NAUERT: We here at the State Department of been focused on the issues that you mentioned earlier. We've been focused on bringing home those three Americans from North Korea, a tremendous success for those three men, their families, this administration and also Secretary Pompeo and the State Department. We've been focused on the totality of Iran's bad behaviors around the world, which for far too long have been ignored by many other countries, and this administration has said no longer. We will focus and we will make sure that we are focused on bad acts they have been involved with, which includes firing rockets and missiles onto our strategic partner, Saudi Arabia, endangering its citizens and civilians and doing the same type of thing in Israel as well. We've been focused on those very serious issues and not the politics here at home.
CUOMO: It's not politics. Everything you just said is really important, Heather, and we’re going to touch on all of it. I promise you that.
NAUERT: Chris, I don't know why you want to start this being argumentative.
CUOMO: I'm not being argumentative.
NAUERT: I am — Let me just say —
CUOMO: It's a pretty easy say. I'm letting you say what you want in response, that's your choice, but this isn't politics, this is about decency.
NAUERT: Okay, Chris, you told me you wanted to talk about Senator McCain, who by the way I have a tremendous amount of respect for.
CUOMO: I'm sure you do.
NAUERT: And I'm in touch with his family. My father died of the same type of cancer that he did. He is an American hero. Had you told me that you wanted to speak about Senator McCain, I might have something to say about that but I can tell you here from the State Department that we are focused on all the activities that we have been very committed to over the past few months and several weeks.
CUOMO: Alright, but obviously when something like that is said, and we have somebody who's a State official with great authority and insight into how matters like this should be handled —
NAUERT: Chris, again, let me tell you —
CUOMO:— that’s why I’m asking you. You can’t expect to be asked about this, Heather.
NAUERT: Chris —
CUOMO: We both know that. You did this job.
NAUERT: I'm not familiar with what you were referring to. If you want to send me a quote —
CUOMO: You're not familiar with what was said about “he's dying anyway” by one of the White House staff in a meeting? It's been all over the media for the last 24 hours?
NAUERT: I've seen that. I don't know this individual.
CUOMO: So you are familiar.
NAUERT: I don't know this individual. I've seen that and now thank you for telling me exactly what you were referring to. I don't know this individual who allegedly said that. I'm not familiar with it and I'll leave it at that.
CUOMO: Okay. Let me ask you what happened about — with the detainees. So they're brought home. That's unqualified good news and the administration deserves the bravo, amazing that you went over there with the Secretary and got it done. What does that mean in terms of how the context of the U.S./North Korea relationship is perceived? Because the President said Kim Jong-un was excellent here. Now that seems to go beyond flattery, right? Because he took them wrongfully in the first place. What's the strategy there and how to deal with Kim Jong-un and what to say about it?
NAUERT: Well, look, I think it's a positive step in the right direction that the three American prisoners were released. We had said to them all along that that is something that we would want. When the President spoke about — in a positive sense about Kim Jong-un and his willingness to do that, sure, that is a positive development. We want to make progress with the North Korean regime and that's something that we've talked to them very clearly about. We go into this clear eyed and realistic. Obviously, they have their nuclear program, which is a tremendous concern to the United States and many other countries around the world as we have achieved in our maximum pressure campaign of getting people to kick out North Korean diplomats, North Korean [sic] all around the world, that has put pressure on North Korea. Now North Korea is coming to the table to have these conversations. This administration has made more progress in the past eight weeks on North Korea than other administrations have in the past eight years. We think we are on the other right footing, we are on the right track, but still we go into this clear eyed and realistic.
CUOMO: Well, I think we've been here before with North Korea. We haven't gotten here this way. The President says he believes his tough talk is what got us to this point and let's say that's true. Let's say that's exactly why we're here. Let's say it's the only reason. That's why I ask you about what the principle of you ignored, you empower. If you talk about Kim —
NAUERT: Excuse me, what I ignored? I don't know what you're talking about.
CUOMO: I’m not talking about you. Well, you ignored the question that what really matters about what's going on in the White House and treating McCain in such an undignified way
NAUERT: Chris, I — I think I —
CUOMO: — but the President is ignoring Kim Jong-un's record —
NAUERT: — answered that for you very clearly. I’m here at the State Department.
CUMO: I don't think so but we've moved on. I’m saying I'm giving you proper context for this question.
NAUERT: Alright. Go right ahead, Chris.
CUOMO: I'm talking about what the President seems to ignore by saying Kim Jong-un was excellent here is that record of human rights abuses and the fact that he took these people wrongfully in the first place, so I'm asking that balance. You know, how do you balance the tough talk with having a forgiving perspective to try to promote peace?
NAUERT: You know, that is your word, forgiving. This administration is hardly forgiving. We've been tough on North Korea. No one takes issue with that whatsoever. The State Department recently put out its human rights report where we took North Korea to account for its human rights abuses, which are well documented. So I think this administration has been significantly and sufficiently tough on north Korea. I'm proud to stand behind that.
CUOMO: And you say you are going into it clear eyed and that's an important perspective also. So —
NAUERT: Well, that is something that the administration has said and Secretary Pompeo has said as well. He's been tough. The administration has been tough in its dealings with North Korea and we are committed to the complete verifiable, irreversible, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We've been clear with North Korea about that and we've also been able to paint for North Korea that they have an opportunity to have a very different kind of future if they commit to denuclearization and they actually follow through on that and that is they could potentially down the road have access to capital markets. Envision a country — which by the way, let me say, is a beautiful country. Envision a country some day where people are able to visit, where you have hotels around the world, where you have visitors coming from around the world. That's part of what Secretary Pompeo had painted for Kim Jong-un, that they have a brighter future ahead of them if they follow through on their commitment.
CUOMO: The idea of what America is willing to give, where in the process would you see reduction of force on the Peninsula, is that something that might be up front or is that something that would have to be much later on after you'd gotten guarantees of performance on the Korean side?
NAUERT: Chris, I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. We have U.S. forces obviously in South Korea and Japan. As far as I can tell, there is no change in that whatsoever. That would be something —
CUOMO: The President brought it up. That's why I ask.
NAUERT: Let me finish. That is something that the Department of Defense would decide and I think we're just getting ahead of ourselves at this point right now.
CUOMO: Well, I ask you because the President brought it up as a potential thing to do right now.
NAUERT: And I gave you an answer, Chris.
CUOMO: Oh, no, I got it. But I'm not suggesting it. The President suggested it so if someone got ahead of it, he did. The Iran and Israeli situation, is there any concern that pulling the United States or threatening to pull it out of the Iran deal precipitated or helped provoke the actions that Israel is pointing out now in terms of missiles that were launched from Syria into the Golan Heights?
NAUERT: You know, it's unbelievable that some would try to blame the United States for Iran's actions. It's unbelievable that others would try to blame Israel for this. Iran is responsible for many bad acts around the world. We've seen that as Iran has provided weapons, money and all of that to Hezbollah operating in Syria, we've seen as Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps operate outside of Syria as, by the way, they continue to back the regime of Bashar al-Assad and let me just remind you it wasn't that long ago that that regime gassed and killed many innocent civilians, not just once but many, many times. So let's take a look at where these bad actions are coming from. They're from Iran and not other countries.
CUOMO: Totally understood. Do you think we're going to see more of that now that Iran is in a hostile disposition? We see what's happening on their streets. We see them burning the American flag.
NAUERT: Chris, they have been — we have seen them in a hostile disposition for many, many years and no one knows that better than our folks here at the State Department when back in the 1970s they held many of our people hostage for far too long.
CUOMO: So you don't think what they did in the Golan Heights had anything to do with them feeling like it's time to be —
NAUERT: You know —
CUOMO: — more muscular and more militaristic?
NAUERT: — I'm not going to assume why Iran is doing what it does. I can just say that there has been a long history of Iran's terror actions and its bad acts and we can look to another example and that is their backing of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, for example. We were just — I was just with Secretary Pompeo in Saudi Arabia just a week ago in fact and when he was in Saudi Arabia, that was one of the big conversations that was being had about those Houthi rebels, supplied by Iran, firing rockets and missiles into Saudi Arabia, threatening their civilians. It's something that we continue to back Saudi Arabia and many of our other partners. Let's remember who was responsible for these actions. It's no other country but Iran.
CUOMO: Understood. Heather Nauert, thank you for coming on the show to talk about what matters.
NAUERT: Okay, Chris.
