Tuesday afternoon’s CNN Newsroom dedicated a full segment to the shameful security threats to Covington Catholic High School, its students, and their families. However, it largely brushed off this horrible reality by focusing on a “poignant exchange” between a Native American and Trump supporter outside the Covington Diocese as well as defending the media writ large from their embarrassing behavior since Saturday afternoon.
Host Brooke Baldwin had two teases before the block with correspondent Miguel Marquez, stating in the first tease that there’s “a new twist in the controversy over the viral video of the confrontation between students in Make America Great Again hats and this Native American elder.”
What a strange way to describe people having threats made against their lives and a school being closed.
In the second tease, Baldwin reiterated that this matter was a “confrontation” and that the school has “faced” threats “in the wake of this controversial video.” How about placing blame on these internet trolls and left-wing activists? Anyone?
Baldwin began the actual, four-minute-and-21 second block by teeing up video of a peaceful discussion between a man named Guy Jones and a man in a Make America Great Again hat outside the Covington Diocese:
Security concerns forced that Kentucky high school whose students were involved in that controversial incident in Washington with a Native American elder to literally shut down for the day. Police cars have been stationed outside Covington Catholic High School after the county attorney said the school and students received threats. Let me share this exchange — this poignant exchange our cameras captured during a peace vigil actually held outside Covington’s Roman Catholic diocese. It was between two gentlemen, a Native American and another man who was wearing a make America Great Again hat.
The two men discussed the need for people to come together and would lead by example as they “shook hands, hugged and exchanged phone numbers.”
From outside the school, Marquez explained that school officials told him that its “shut today and it will stay shut until police tell them it is safe to open back up” while, also on Tuesday, “[t]here was....a unity moment at the diocese today, but, you know, all of this is just the confluence of race, a social media and a hyper-charged political atmosphere in which the President, of course, dived head first into it.”
He then chalked up this awful escalation to “the confluence of race, a social media and hyper-charged political atmosphere?” Give me a break.
Marquez read from a Trump tweet about the Covington kids, but instead of speaking more about the threats to the school and its students, he rallied to the defense of the news media and their shameful behavior over the last four days (click “expand”):
But look, here are the facts of how all of this played out when it happened last Friday. The initial video came out. It was reported on when new facts became available and new video was out there. That was also reported on. That is how reporting works. One of the Twitter accounts that sort of spurred on this issue, on that video, CNN asked questions of Twitter on it and that Twitter account has been suspended and it appears there was an effort to make it sort of go hyper-viral by several different individuals out there. The incident that everyone focused onto begin with was about four minutes long, but the entirety of this thing that happened on Friday was over an hour and a half long. There were members of the Hebrew Israelites. This is an African American group that believes they are God's descendants. They had been taunting both the students and the Native Americans for quite some time. That's when the elder from the — the tribe — the Omaha tribe stepped in drumming and doing a spiritual song to try to bring everyone together. He walked into the middle of it. There was the faceoff with Nathan Sandmann who has now released a statement saying that he didn't mean anything by that and he wasn’t actually facing off with him. He was only trying to bring everything down as well.
He concluded by trying to further defend the press, noting that the March for Life initially condemned the supposed actions of the students before taking it back.
“The school, the Diocese, and a nearby Latin school closed today. We will see what happens tomorrow. But, right now people here in the area around Cincinnati, just south of Cincinnati in Kentucky and Covington try to come to grips with everything that happened and hopefully take a breath and move on,” Marquez asserted.
Again, nothing to say about the threats made to these students that was led in large part by CNN (as this writer wrote on Monday).
“Take a breath. Just seems like a snapshot of America here in 2019,” Baldwin replied.
Eye roll. This is CNN.
To see the relevant transcript from January 22's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, click “expand.”
CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin
January 22, 2019
3:24 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Controversial Video; Catholic School Closes Amid Threats, Security Concerns]
BROOKE BALDWIN: Plus a new twist in the controversy over the viral video of the confrontation between students in Make America Great Again hats and this Native American elder. Why their classes were canceled today? We'll be right back.
(....)
3:44 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Controversial Video; Catholic School Closes Amid Threats, Security Concerns]
BALDWIN: Next, we will take you live to the catholic high school that was forced to close today after that confrontation in Washington, D.C. over the weekend between these Native American protesters and this group of Kentucky students. Details on the security threats the school says it is forced — it has faced, rather, in the wake of this controversial video.
(....)
3:49 p.m. Eastern
BALDWIN: Security concerns forced that Kentucky high school whose students were involved in that controversial incident in Washington with a Native American elder to literally shut down for the day. Police cars have been stationed outside Covington Catholic High School after the county attorney said the school and students received threats.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Controversial Video; Catholic School Closes Amid Threats, Security Concerns]
Let me share this exchange — this poignant exchange our cameras captured during a peace vigil actually held outside Covington’s Roman Catholic diocese. It was between two gentlemen, a Native American and another man who was wearing a make America Great Again hat.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Calm Exchange; Trump Supporter, Native American Lock Hands at Peace Vigil]
GUY JONES: This is our country.
“DON”: Right.
JONES: And it’s the people —
“DON” Amen.
JONES: — the people need to take back this country.
“DON” Amen. Amen.
JONES: And, you know —
“DON” And we'll work together to do it.
JONES: And we have to work together to do it.
“DON” Absolutely.
JONES: Damn right we do.
“DON” People that want to tear it down we need to go and say sit down. Let’s figure it out.
JONES: Yeah.
“DON” So, they won't sit down.
JONES: Right. Nah-uh.
“DON” You know, we want everybody to sit. So, I’m — God’s right here with you and me both, a thousand percent and I know that you’re — I get it. I get it a thousand. So I’m going to call, let’s talk, sit down, and figure out what we can do and we’ll start an American movement.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Controversial Video; Catholic School Closes Amid Threats, Security Concerns]
BALDWIN: That — the two men shook hands, hugged and exchanged phone numbers. Miguel Marquez is our CNN national correspondent who was there. He is live in Park Hills near that High school there in Kentucky and so, the diocese, Miguel, I understand, just issued a statement. What’s their position?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ: Yeah they say it is shut today and it will stay shut until police tell them it is safe to open back up. There was a small protest at the diocese as you mentioned today or a unity moment at the diocese today. But, you know, all of this is just the confluence of race, a social media and a hyper-charged political atmosphere in which the President, of course, dived head first into it, tweeting last night: Looks — “Looking like Nick Sandman & Covington Catholic students were treated unfairly with early judgements proving out to be false - smeared by media. Not good, but making big comeback! “New footage shows that media was wrong about teen’s encounter with Native American” He seemes to be quoting from a Fox News report there. The President then went onto to tweet this morning something very similar to this. But look, here are the facts of how all of this played out when it happened last Friday. The initial video came out. It was reported on when new facts became available and new video was out there. That was also reported on. That is how reporting works. One of the Twitter accounts that sort of spurred on this issue, on that video, CNN asked questions of Twitter on it and that Twitter account has been suspended and it appears there was an effort to make it sort of go hyper-viral by several different individuals out there. The incident that everyone focused onto begin with was about four minutes long, but the entirety of this thing that happened on Friday was over an hour and a half long. There were members of the Hebrew Israelites. This is an African American group that believes they are God's descendants. They had been taunting both the students and the Native Americans for quite some time. That's when the elder from the — the tribe — the Omaha tribe stepped in drumming and doing a spiritual song to try to bring everyone together. He walked into the middle of it. There was the faceoff with Nathan Sandmann who has now released a statement saying that he didn't mean anything by that and he wasn’t actually facing off with him. He was only trying to bring everything down as well. Interestingly the March for life which is kids were there to begin with, they at first were very upset with what the kids did and then since rescinded their statement as well. The school, the Diocese, and a nearby Latin school closed today. We will see what happens tomorrow. But, right now people here in the area around Cincinnati, just south of Cincinnati in Kentucky and Covington try to come to grips with everything that happened and hopefully take a breath and move on.
BALDWIN: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Take a breath. Just seems like a snapshot of America here in 2019. Miguel, thank you so much.
