Transcripts For CNNW CNN Special Report 20190127 : vimarsana

CNNW CNN Special Report January 27, 2019

When briefings happen, it can feel like a war room. My colleagues refer to it as beat the press. You said something from the podium. Was it accurate or not . Im not going to engage on matters that deal with the outside counsel. They believe there are a lot of gotcha questions, its unnecessarily hostile. Not skeptical but hostile. Frustration is apparent on both sides. If you spent a little more time reporting the news instead of trying to tear me down, you might actually see that were working hard trying to provide you good information. The president of the United States should not refer to us as the enemy of the people. When you report fake news, which cnn does, you are the enemy of the people. Tonight, a behind the scenes look at a historic room. Im not taking any more questions. Built by another president who hated the press. President nixon gets into office and said, were going to move the sons of bitches. Battle in the Briefing Room the president versus the press. On pennsylvania avenue, past the posing. Liar liar and the protests. Is the gate the White House Press corps uses to get to work. Down a short driveway, past the green tents where tv reporters do live shots. When you come through the gates of the white house, it doesnt take you very long to walk right into the west wing. That regal portico is the gateway to the oval office. The office of the president of the United States. The man who constantly attacks. The worlds most dishonest people. And tries to undermine the mainstream media. I call it the fake news. The enemy of the people. About 75 feet to the left is the door where the journalists he calls enemies enter the white house. The entrance leads directly into the Briefing Room. Site of the muchwatched and im trying to answer. Muchtalkedabout Daily Briefings. Frankly i think my credibility is probably higher than the medias. Actually, the briefings are no longer daily. But were getting ahead of ourselves. All rise. It never gets boring. What is it about these White House Press briefings that has become mustsee tv for people . To me, two words. Sean spicer. Cnns chief White House Correspondent jim acosta says it started on spicers first full day. Thank you guys for coming. Theres no other way to describe it. When he came out that day, the day after the inauguration, and went after us about the crowd size. Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting. He basically turned those briefings into mustsee tv. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period. Longtime White House Correspondents were stunned. It was a bit hard to keep my sense of balance, even though i was sitting. That day signaled to me that this would be a completely different orientation to communication, to facts. Thank you guys for being here tonight. I will see you on monday. Sean it was a headshaker. Former press secretaries say it was the day spicer sacrificed his credibility. To call a special briefing and the first thing you go out there and do is attack the press for the coverage that was accurate. And right off the bat, you have a credibility problem. About that day, spicer now says, if i could have a doover, i would take it. But the tone was set. This was the fourth time. Ive asked and answered it. But its a different context. And it was combative. Thank you, youve asked the question eight times. Why are you asking why he didnt do it when i literally stood here and do it . What are you this is silly. Next. Millions began watching. You tend to overlook all the sources. Because i know you want to cherry pick it. And spicer often beat some longrunning soap operas in the ratings. Youre minimizing the point, jim. Its not about one tweet. In the trump white house, facts mattered less than the story they were trying to tell. I think theres been studies. Theres one came out of pew in 2008 that showed 14 of people who have voted were noncitizens. Thats not factual. And sometimes it wasnt civil either. Youve got russia, youve got wiretapping. Youve got no, we dont have that. Youve got russia. If the president puts russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow thats a russian connection. I asked a simple question. Simple answer required. Youre shaking your head. No, but you want to talk about russian salad dressing. I thought that was trite. Youre asking me a question and im going to answer it, which is the president im sorry. Please stop shaking your head again. Theres a level of respect were supposed to have for each other. If respect was out the window, so were the rules of engagement. The press secretary conducts business governed not by law but by tradition and convention. So the convention was that the first question went to the a. P. Reporter, associated press. Im glad to take some questions. Of course you can john roberts. There are reports that spicer started where he wanted. Jim stenson. Often with conservative or nontraditional media. Daniel halpern, new york post. It was essentially a message to the press, hey jennifer wishen. If you dont do what we want you to do, youre going to get frozen out. John gizzy. Thank you, sean. White house reporter john gizzy, who writes for a conservative website, sees it differently. Press secretaries have historically favored reporters and publications their bosses liked over those that they didnt. Another way to avoid unwanted questions. Thank you, guys. See you tomorrow. Happy valentines day. Sean sean he walked away. Until spicer, the senior wire reporter ended the briefings. Mike mccurry was president clintons press secretary. I would stay out there until one of the correspondents said, thank you, mike. Thank you. Thank you, helen. This is cnn breaking news. The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has resigned. Spicer lasted six months, resigning after President Trump appointed businessman Anthony Scaramucci communications matter. I love the president. Im very, very loyal to the president. Scaramucci lasted ten days. Thank you. Fired following a foulmouthed interview. In came Sarah Sanders. Good afternoon. Shes combative as well, but just a little sweeter about it. Do we have to keep it to one question today . Yes, sir. All right. Even you, john. Not always. I know its hard for you to understand even short sentences, i guess. But please dont take my words out of context. What are President Trumps flaws . Probably that he has to deal with you guys on a daily basis. What the administration wanted you to believe was still more important than fact. The president strongly feels there was a large amount of voter fraud. There has never been any evidence of widespread fraud. What about Sarah Sanders, is she 100 accurate . Shes 100 reflective of what the president wants her to say, lets put it that way. Look, i think the president , as he has said many times before, has been tougher on russia than anybody. I think they say things that maybe they know are not quite right. But theyre trying to paint a picture, a narrative that fits with what the president believes. What color is the sky in the president s world . And i think the president really does believe some things even when theyre absolutely wrong. So what are you supposed to do . You cant go out there and say, the president s full of it. We wanted to ask Sarah Sanders about her answers from the podium. But our requests werent answered. She did speak with cnn in june. What i think is important to remember is that you guys get to ask the questions, but you cant always complain about the answers. You constantly ask the same question over and over and over again and expect different answers. Sarah . Sarah . Ahead. What is it about Television Coverage of you that has so aroused your anger . How the Briefing Room came to be. President nixon gets into office and said, were going to move the sons of bitches so far away from here. Saved an average of 412, syou probably wont believe me. But you can believe this, real esurance employee nancy abraham. Look her up online. Esurance, its surprisingly painless. Tremfya® is for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. With tremfya®, you can get clearer. And stay clearer. In fact, most patients who saw 90 clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. Tremfya® works better than humira® at providing clearer skin and more patients were symptom free with tremfya®. Tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. Ask your doctor about tremfya®. Tremfya®. Because you deserve to stay clearer. Janssen wants to help you explore cost support options. Tremfya®. Because you deserve to stay clearer. Yeah, ive had some prettyeer. Prestigious jobs over the years. News producer, executive transport manager, and a beverage distribution supervisor. Now im a director at a Security Software firm. Wow, youve been at it a long time. Thing is, i like working. What if my Retirement Plan is i dont want to retire . Then lets not create a Retirement Plan. Lets create a plan for whats next. I like that. Get a plan thats right for you. Td ameritrade. This is the press Briefing Room at the white house. Its part workspace. Is the mike up . Part live studio. Hear you loud and clear. Part Briefing Room. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thanks for your patience. The room were president reagan faced questions about the irancontra affair. Did you make a mistake in sending arms to tehran, sir . No. And im not taking any more questions. The room where president obama mourned first graders killed in their classrooms. Beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. And its where george bush 43 defended his decision to defend iraq. Why did you really want to go to war . You know, i didnt want war. To assume i wanted war is just is just flat wrong, helen. President trump has yet to take the podium. Which means Sarah Sanders fields the questions about credibility. Her credibility. Good afternoon. Every official that speaks for this white house gets questions about their credibility because there have just been a number of statements that have been said at the top, from the president himself, that have just been simply not true. Do you want to correct the record on your statement from august . In august of 2017, sanders said the president did not dictate don juniors statement about the 2016 trump tower meeting with russians. He weighed in, offered suggestion, like any father would do. Ten months later it became clear he did dictate his sons statement. But sanders went silent on the topic. Im not going to comment on the outside counsel. You said something from the podium. Was it accurate or not . Im not going to engage on matters that deal with the outside counsel. Why should we be able to trust that the information were getting from this administration is accurate . I think that if you spent a little bit more time reporting the news instead of trying to tear me down you might actually see were working hard trying to provide you with good information. In the past, being perceived as credible was a priority for a press secretary. Jerry terhorst, president fords first press secretary, Jerry Terhorst, believed credibility was so central to his position, he resigned when he thought he lost it. Within the first 90 days, president ford stunned the country, stunned the world by pardoning Richard Nixon. And Jerry Terhorst had not been part of the circle of people who thought about it and went out to announce it to the world. And he felt, ive been so badly undercut by not being part of the team of the inner circle, people will no longer think im credible. And he resigned over principle. David gergen worked in the Ford Administration and says terhorst aspired to be like a man named jim hagerty, president eisenhowers press secretary. Haggerty said my job as press secretary is to help you get the news, to have the president held accountable through the press. Increasingly its become a political arm of the white house, one could even say its become a propaganda arm of the white house. Gergen is talking about spin, something he and others did for president reagan. We worked very, very hard to convince people that our version of the truth was the right version or at least was a credible version of the truth. How would you define the difference between a spin and a lie . I think a lie is a story thats contrary to the truth. I think spin is an effort to draw on parts of the truth. Its more like a piece of advocacy. Thanks for being here for your Daily Briefing. You dont have to lie, ever. You simply say i cant answer that question or i dont know. I always had a glass of water on the podium. And so if i got a tough question and i really needed to think, i would stop to take a drink of water. The goal of all this is not just to be truthful but to be truthful and supportive of their president s agenda. America is safer because of the action we took. That, says the former press secretaries we spoke to, takes hours of preparation. I would get up early in the morning and i would listen to the bbc and then listen to other radio broadcasts, then read a whole bunch of newspapers. By the time i come into the office, i probably have a pretty good sense whats going to be coming up at the briefing that day. I would mentally start figuring out what all the questions were. I would Start Talking to myself in the shower. And im starting to talk to the president , other members of the senior staff, and say, hey, i might need more information. Problem is, in this administration the president may not be ready to share that information. We are fully cooperating with the office of the special counsel. Which can make Sarah Sanders job difficult. Shes getting questions about her credibility because the president often doesnt tell them what hes going to do, because he wants to be the person that controls the information. Good afternoon. I think its a very difficult dance, to be the press secretary in this white house. Perhaps the biggest reason is that donald trump really sees him as his own press secretary. President trump may be the first president to try to act as his own press secretary. But his administration is the no the first to have friction with the press corps. Ive been here since kennedy and that door those steps have never been blocked to us. This door, which leads to the White House Press shop, triggered a lot of friction at the beginning of the clinton administration. And the press secretarys office has never been off limits. I remember coming in and seeing helen thomas from upi standing at that door, banging her fist, let us in photographer douglas mills is with the new york times. What is going on, helen . She goes, theyve locked us out. Damn, it theyve locked us out. It was a tough time. The door stayed locked for months. Im deeply honored until david gergen joined the clinton administration. I went to the clintons and said, can we open the door, please . And they said, yeah, lets open it. And it was seen as a symbol of, were going to have a new day. And we began inviting reporters for dinner. They needed to spend time with the president and understand theyre professionals too. It gradually healed itself. So can the relationship between this White House Press operation and its press corps be healed . I think theyre less interested in getting to a better relationship with the press than they are in using the press as a foil. Ahead, behind the scenes in the Briefing Room. Its smaller than it looks on tv. And kind of smells like socks. Not long ago, ronda started here. And then, more jobs began to appear. These techs in a lab. This builder in a hardhat. The welders and electricians who do all of that. The diner staffed up cause they all needed lunch. Teachers. Doctors. Jobs grew a bunch. What started with one job spread all around. Because each job in energy creates many more in this town. Energy lives here. Lets go from plans. To fullblown production. Lets go from being oncall. To being online. American express can help move your business forward with loans, vendor payments and buying power. Chat with one of our 4000 specialists and lets make it happen. The powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. When did sleep become something that requires effort . Like an obstacle we have to overcome every single night. With our newest tempurpedic mattresses, its not. Because every bed is engineered with the most advanced pressurerelieving material, weve ever created. So you get the deepest sleep youve had. Your entire life. Sleep effortlessly with the superior comfort of tempurpedic. Because theres nothing like tempurpedic sleep. like tempurpedic sleep. Im not picking it up. You pick it up im not picking it up. Ill pick it up theyre clean cuz my hineys clean. Oh yeah im charmin clean. Charmin ultra strong just cleans better. Enjoy the go with charmin. For rough, dry skin discovered by hard working farmers who shared it with family who recommended it to friends. Udderly smooth, the moisturizer for rough, dry skin with no greasy after feel. Hard working moisturerich udderly smooth. This is it guys. You ready . To have epix . Absolutely. Woooo youd laugh. Oh, ow. [ chuckles ] youd cry. Look, look, look, look, look, look, look,. Maybe even laugh while crying. What the fertilizer . Sounds pretty great, right . Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight just say, add epix and it can all be yours. Its easy to upgrade. And you dont want to miss out on everything epix. This is where it all happens. I see why everybody says it looks so much smaller in person. The press United States<\/a> should not refer to us as the enemy of the people. When you report fake news, which cnn does, you are the enemy of the people. Tonight, a behind the scenes look at a historic room. Im not taking any more questions. Built by another president who hated the press. President nixon gets into office and said, were going to move the sons of bitches. Battle in the Briefing Room<\/a> the president versus the press. On pennsylvania avenue, past the posing. Liar liar and the protests. Is the gate the White House Press<\/a> corps uses to get to work. Down a short driveway, past the green tents where tv reporters do live shots. When you come through the gates of the white house, it doesnt take you very long to walk right into the west wing. That regal portico is the gateway to the oval office. The office of the president of the United States<\/a>. The man who constantly attacks. The worlds most dishonest people. And tries to undermine the mainstream media. I call it the fake news. The enemy of the people. About 75 feet to the left is the door where the journalists he calls enemies enter the white house. The entrance leads directly into the Briefing Room<\/a>. Site of the muchwatched and im trying to answer. Muchtalkedabout Daily Briefing<\/a>s. Frankly i think my credibility is probably higher than the medias. Actually, the briefings are no longer daily. But were getting ahead of ourselves. All rise. It never gets boring. What is it about these White House Press<\/a> briefings that has become mustsee tv for people . To me, two words. Sean spicer. Cnns chief White House Correspondent<\/a> jim acosta says it started on spicers first full day. Thank you guys for coming. Theres no other way to describe it. When he came out that day, the day after the inauguration, and went after us about the crowd size. Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting. He basically turned those briefings into mustsee tv. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period. Longtime White House Correspondent<\/a>s were stunned. It was a bit hard to keep my sense of balance, even though i was sitting. That day signaled to me that this would be a completely different orientation to communication, to facts. Thank you guys for being here tonight. I will see you on monday. Sean it was a headshaker. Former press secretaries say it was the day spicer sacrificed his credibility. To call a special briefing and the first thing you go out there and do is attack the press for the coverage that was accurate. And right off the bat, you have a credibility problem. About that day, spicer now says, if i could have a doover, i would take it. But the tone was set. This was the fourth time. Ive asked and answered it. But its a different context. And it was combative. Thank you, youve asked the question eight times. Why are you asking why he didnt do it when i literally stood here and do it . What are you this is silly. Next. Millions began watching. You tend to overlook all the sources. Because i know you want to cherry pick it. And spicer often beat some longrunning soap operas in the ratings. Youre minimizing the point, jim. Its not about one tweet. In the trump white house, facts mattered less than the story they were trying to tell. I think theres been studies. Theres one came out of pew in 2008 that showed 14 of people who have voted were noncitizens. Thats not factual. And sometimes it wasnt civil either. Youve got russia, youve got wiretapping. Youve got no, we dont have that. Youve got russia. If the president puts russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow thats a russian connection. I asked a simple question. Simple answer required. Youre shaking your head. No, but you want to talk about russian salad dressing. I thought that was trite. Youre asking me a question and im going to answer it, which is the president im sorry. Please stop shaking your head again. Theres a level of respect were supposed to have for each other. If respect was out the window, so were the rules of engagement. The press secretary conducts business governed not by law but by tradition and convention. So the convention was that the first question went to the a. P. Reporter, associated press. Im glad to take some questions. Of course you can john roberts. There are reports that spicer started where he wanted. Jim stenson. Often with conservative or nontraditional media. Daniel halpern, new york post. It was essentially a message to the press, hey jennifer wishen. If you dont do what we want you to do, youre going to get frozen out. John gizzy. Thank you, sean. White house reporter john gizzy, who writes for a conservative website, sees it differently. Press secretaries have historically favored reporters and publications their bosses liked over those that they didnt. Another way to avoid unwanted questions. Thank you, guys. See you tomorrow. Happy valentines day. Sean sean he walked away. Until spicer, the senior wire reporter ended the briefings. Mike mccurry was president clintons press secretary. I would stay out there until one of the correspondents said, thank you, mike. Thank you. Thank you, helen. This is cnn breaking news. The White House Press<\/a> Secretary Sean Spicer<\/a> has resigned. Spicer lasted six months, resigning after President Trump<\/a> appointed businessman Anthony Scaramucci<\/a> communications matter. I love the president. Im very, very loyal to the president. Scaramucci lasted ten days. Thank you. Fired following a foulmouthed interview. In came Sarah Sanders<\/a>. Good afternoon. Shes combative as well, but just a little sweeter about it. Do we have to keep it to one question today . Yes, sir. All right. Even you, john. Not always. I know its hard for you to understand even short sentences, i guess. But please dont take my words out of context. What are President Trump<\/a>s flaws . Probably that he has to deal with you guys on a daily basis. What the administration wanted you to believe was still more important than fact. The president strongly feels there was a large amount of voter fraud. There has never been any evidence of widespread fraud. What about Sarah Sanders<\/a>, is she 100 accurate . Shes 100 reflective of what the president wants her to say, lets put it that way. Look, i think the president , as he has said many times before, has been tougher on russia than anybody. I think they say things that maybe they know are not quite right. But theyre trying to paint a picture, a narrative that fits with what the president believes. What color is the sky in the president s world . And i think the president really does believe some things even when theyre absolutely wrong. So what are you supposed to do . You cant go out there and say, the president s full of it. We wanted to ask Sarah Sanders<\/a> about her answers from the podium. But our requests werent answered. She did speak with cnn in june. What i think is important to remember is that you guys get to ask the questions, but you cant always complain about the answers. You constantly ask the same question over and over and over again and expect different answers. Sarah . Sarah . Ahead. What is it about Television Coverage<\/a> of you that has so aroused your anger . How the Briefing Room<\/a> came to be. President nixon gets into office and said, were going to move the sons of bitches so far away from here. Saved an average of 412, syou probably wont believe me. But you can believe this, real esurance employee nancy abraham. Look her up online. Esurance, its surprisingly painless. Tremfya\u00ae is for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. With tremfya\u00ae, you can get clearer. And stay clearer. In fact, most patients who saw 90 clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. Tremfya\u00ae works better than humira\u00ae at providing clearer skin and more patients were symptom free with tremfya\u00ae. Tremfya\u00ae may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Before starting tremfya\u00ae tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. Ask your doctor about tremfya\u00ae. Tremfya\u00ae. Because you deserve to stay clearer. Janssen wants to help you explore cost support options. Tremfya\u00ae. Because you deserve to stay clearer. Yeah, ive had some prettyeer. Prestigious jobs over the years. News producer, executive transport manager, and a beverage distribution supervisor. Now im a director at a Security Software<\/a> firm. Wow, youve been at it a long time. Thing is, i like working. What if my Retirement Plan<\/a> is i dont want to retire . Then lets not create a Retirement Plan<\/a>. Lets create a plan for whats next. I like that. Get a plan thats right for you. Td ameritrade. This is the press Briefing Room<\/a> at the white house. Its part workspace. Is the mike up . Part live studio. Hear you loud and clear. Part Briefing Room<\/a>. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thanks for your patience. The room were president reagan faced questions about the irancontra affair. Did you make a mistake in sending arms to tehran, sir . No. And im not taking any more questions. The room where president obama mourned first graders killed in their classrooms. Beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. And its where george bush 43 defended his decision to defend iraq. Why did you really want to go to war . You know, i didnt want war. To assume i wanted war is just is just flat wrong, helen. President trump has yet to take the podium. Which means Sarah Sanders<\/a> fields the questions about credibility. Her credibility. Good afternoon. Every official that speaks for this white house gets questions about their credibility because there have just been a number of statements that have been said at the top, from the president himself, that have just been simply not true. Do you want to correct the record on your statement from august . In august of 2017, sanders said the president did not dictate don juniors statement about the 2016 trump tower meeting with russians. He weighed in, offered suggestion, like any father would do. Ten months later it became clear he did dictate his sons statement. But sanders went silent on the topic. Im not going to comment on the outside counsel. You said something from the podium. Was it accurate or not . Im not going to engage on matters that deal with the outside counsel. Why should we be able to trust that the information were getting from this administration is accurate . I think that if you spent a little bit more time reporting the news instead of trying to tear me down you might actually see were working hard trying to provide you with good information. In the past, being perceived as credible was a priority for a press secretary. Jerry terhorst, president fords first press secretary, Jerry Terhorst<\/a>, believed credibility was so central to his position, he resigned when he thought he lost it. Within the first 90 days, president ford stunned the country, stunned the world by pardoning Richard Nixon<\/a>. And Jerry Terhorst<\/a> had not been part of the circle of people who thought about it and went out to announce it to the world. And he felt, ive been so badly undercut by not being part of the team of the inner circle, people will no longer think im credible. And he resigned over principle. David gergen worked in the Ford Administration<\/a> and says terhorst aspired to be like a man named jim hagerty, president eisenhowers press secretary. Haggerty said my job as press secretary is to help you get the news, to have the president held accountable through the press. Increasingly its become a political arm of the white house, one could even say its become a propaganda arm of the white house. Gergen is talking about spin, something he and others did for president reagan. We worked very, very hard to convince people that our version of the truth was the right version or at least was a credible version of the truth. How would you define the difference between a spin and a lie . I think a lie is a story thats contrary to the truth. I think spin is an effort to draw on parts of the truth. Its more like a piece of advocacy. Thanks for being here for your Daily Briefing<\/a>. You dont have to lie, ever. You simply say i cant answer that question or i dont know. I always had a glass of water on the podium. And so if i got a tough question and i really needed to think, i would stop to take a drink of water. The goal of all this is not just to be truthful but to be truthful and supportive of their president s agenda. America is safer because of the action we took. That, says the former press secretaries we spoke to, takes hours of preparation. I would get up early in the morning and i would listen to the bbc and then listen to other radio broadcasts, then read a whole bunch of newspapers. By the time i come into the office, i probably have a pretty good sense whats going to be coming up at the briefing that day. I would mentally start figuring out what all the questions were. I would Start Talking<\/a> to myself in the shower. And im starting to talk to the president , other members of the senior staff, and say, hey, i might need more information. Problem is, in this administration the president may not be ready to share that information. We are fully cooperating with the office of the special counsel. Which can make Sarah Sanders<\/a> job difficult. Shes getting questions about her credibility because the president often doesnt tell them what hes going to do, because he wants to be the person that controls the information. Good afternoon. I think its a very difficult dance, to be the press secretary in this white house. Perhaps the biggest reason is that donald trump really sees him as his own press secretary. President trump may be the first president to try to act as his own press secretary. But his administration is the no the first to have friction with the press corps. Ive been here since kennedy and that door those steps have never been blocked to us. This door, which leads to the White House Press<\/a> shop, triggered a lot of friction at the beginning of the clinton administration. And the press secretarys office has never been off limits. I remember coming in and seeing helen thomas from upi standing at that door, banging her fist, let us in photographer douglas mills is with the new york times. What is going on, helen . She goes, theyve locked us out. Damn, it theyve locked us out. It was a tough time. The door stayed locked for months. Im deeply honored until david gergen joined the clinton administration. I went to the clintons and said, can we open the door, please . And they said, yeah, lets open it. And it was seen as a symbol of, were going to have a new day. And we began inviting reporters for dinner. They needed to spend time with the president and understand theyre professionals too. It gradually healed itself. So can the relationship between this White House Press<\/a> operation and its press corps be healed . I think theyre less interested in getting to a better relationship with the press than they are in using the press as a foil. Ahead, behind the scenes in the Briefing Room<\/a>. Its smaller than it looks on tv. And kind of smells like socks. Not long ago, ronda started here. And then, more jobs began to appear. These techs in a lab. This builder in a hardhat. The welders and electricians who do all of that. The diner staffed up cause they all needed lunch. Teachers. Doctors. Jobs grew a bunch. What started with one job spread all around. Because each job in energy creates many more in this town. Energy lives here. Lets go from plans. To fullblown production. Lets go from being oncall. To being online. American express can help move your business forward with loans, vendor payments and buying power. Chat with one of our 4000 specialists and lets make it happen. The powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. When did sleep become something that requires effort . Like an obstacle we have to overcome every single night. With our newest tempurpedic mattresses, its not. Because every bed is engineered with the most advanced pressurerelieving material, weve ever created. So you get the deepest sleep youve had. Your entire life. Sleep effortlessly with the superior comfort of tempurpedic. Because theres nothing like tempurpedic sleep. like tempurpedic sleep. Im not picking it up. You pick it up im not picking it up. Ill pick it up theyre clean cuz my hineys clean. Oh yeah im charmin clean. Charmin ultra strong just cleans better. Enjoy the go with charmin. For rough, dry skin discovered by hard working farmers who shared it with family who recommended it to friends. Udderly smooth, the moisturizer for rough, dry skin with no greasy after feel. Hard working moisturerich udderly smooth. This is it guys. You ready . To have epix . Absolutely. Woooo youd laugh. Oh, ow. [ chuckles ] youd cry. Look, look, look, look, look, look, look,. Maybe even laugh while crying. What the fertilizer . Sounds pretty great, right . Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight just say, add epix and it can all be yours. Its easy to upgrade. And you dont want to miss out on everything epix. This is where it all happens. I see why everybody says it looks so much smaller in person. The press Briefing Room<\/a> at the white house is 48 feet long by 20 feet wide, about the size of a large classroom. Its a special place. But its smaller than it looks on tv. And kind of smells like socks. And theres empty Spray Bottles<\/a> on the floor. And yeah. There are just 49 seats. Seven rows of seven seats. They are assigned. The organizations who invest the most in white house coverage and have the largest audiences are up front. This is the cnn seat. You can see the little plaque there on the bottom. So nobody here at the white house has peeled that off yet, thank goodness. If you dont have an assigned seat, youll stand. Where does that go . That goes to lower press, which is an office of the deputy press secretaries, and then theres a hallway that goes up to what we call upper press, which is where the press secretary sits. In the back of the Briefing Room<\/a> you open this and you find every single drop that we have in the white house. A drop is essentially the ability to plug in a camera at a given location and feed what it shows, either live or recorded. And this is where we control all thse drops. Up above, the photographers have tucked away memories from the road. Some of the highlights are donald trump rubber duck, bobbleheads from campaigns, trinkets. Douglas mills made an interesting discovery back here during his early days at the white house. Noticed there was a hatch. I said to a couple of the other camera men, hey, whats up here . There was a switch, i hit the light, oh my gosh, this is a Swimming Pool<\/a>. You heard him correctly. There wasnt a Briefing Room<\/a> here in 1969. When president Richard Nixon<\/a> moved into the white house, this space was a Swimming Pool<\/a>. There was no Briefing Room<\/a>. If you had a White House Press<\/a> pass, you were allowed to go to the west wing. Before he anchored the evening news, dan rather covered the johnson and Nixon Administration<\/a>s for cbs. So tell me about the briefings during the johnson administration. Where were they conducted . Well, sometimes they were conducted in the press secretarys office. And sometimes the president did the briefings himself. It was not unusual, if you were a regular White House Correspondent<\/a>, to some days be in the oval office, five, six, seven, eight times a day. President johnson would stand at the oval desk and in a normal tone of voice, mr. President , i was about to ask you about this. Back then white house reporters were located in the office that now belongs to the National Security<\/a> adviser. Its very close to the oval. And when the reporters werent busy, they gathered in the lobby near the entrance to the west wing. Sam donaldson covered watergate and later the white house for abc. Before nixon, the press saw many if not all the visitors to the oval office. Richard nixon didnt want that. He hated the press. Felt theyd mistreated him during the 60 campaign. When nixon lost to john kennedy. So president nixon gets in office and said, were going to move them sons of bitches. The scheme was, put them over in the executive office building. Across the street. Every News Organization<\/a> in the country said, you know, this is ridiculous. And so somebody on the nixon staff came up with what for president nixon was a brilliant idea. Among the people president nixon couldnt stand was president john kennedy. The white house Swimming Pool<\/a> was identified somewhat with president kennedy because president kennedy had a bad back and he liked to swim a lot. So the advice to president nixon was, look, we can board over the Swimming Pool<\/a> and put this press room there. Itll still be in the white house. Itll be out of the west wing. But mr. President , were going to board over Jack Kennedys<\/a> Swimming Pool<\/a>. And thats how the president Briefing Room<\/a> came to be. But the room youre used to didnt look this way when first constructed. Ann . Mr. President says ann compton. She reported from the white house for more than 40 years. The Briefing Room<\/a> itself looked like a doctors waiting room with big stuffed sofas and capital Captains Chairs<\/a> and people Milling Around<\/a> all day. Behind and under the press Briefing Room<\/a>, the Nixon Administration<\/a> built office space for the press corps. On the first floor. Down below, theres a basement which we nicknamed lublyanka, after a russian prison. Cnn has been in the basement since 1980. This is what we affectionately call the booth. We were assigned there as a startup network. Fox is right next door. Its a very small space. Nine by nine. About half the size of a bedroom. Were literally on top of each other. Right. You better not bring smelly food to work. Upstairs is a break room and a coffee machine with quite a back story. This is the tom hanks espresso machine. Tom hanks came into the white house for a tour probably 20 years ago. He said, where can i get a cup of coffee . Somebody directed him right back to this room. To an old coffee dispenser where you put in a coin and the cup drops out. The front display was crawling with ants. He said, i cant believe the press drinks it. Probably two months later, and up in the mail comes a beautiful coffee machine, espresso machine. Now somebodys got to put it together. This is the third one. About every four years we get a letter from one of his assistants that says how is the machine doing . Voila. Wow just ahead, the briefings go live. At some point i said, im allowing the broadcast guys to have full access to the briefing. It was a big deal. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to theater of the absurd. We do this five days a week, believe it or not. Minimums and fees. They seem to be the very foundation of your typical bank. Capital one is anything but typical. Thats why we designed capital one cafes. You can get savings and checking accounts with no fees or minimums. And one of americas best savings rates. To top it off, you can open one from anywhere in 5 minutes. This isnt a typical bank. This is banking reimagined. Whats in your wallet . Dad hiding when i was supposed to be quitting. I thought, i should try something that works. I should try nicorette. Nicorette mini relieves sudden cravings fast. Anytime. Anywhere. Nicorette mini. You know why. We know how. Always a catch. Like somehow you wind up getting less. But now that i book at hilton. Com, and i get all these great perks. I got to select my room from the floor plan. Very nice. I know, im good at picking stuff. Free wifi. Laptop by the pool is a bold choice. And the price match guarantee. How do you know all of this . Are you like some magical hilton fairy . Its just here on the hilton app. Just available to the public, so. Book at hilton. Com and get the hilton price match guarantee. If you find a lower rate, we match it and give you 25 off that stay. Good morning. Mornings are interesting. Home sweet home. The president is still tweeting about it today. He starts tweeting about 5 30, 6 00, sometimes 6 30. Long before the internet reshaped the way the White House Press<\/a> corps did its job, television reshaped the Briefing Room<\/a>. Nothing has transformed white house coverage as much as the advent of 24houraday cable news. He could walk down here and tell us very easily, its a very few steps from the oval office to here. In the 60s and 70s, print reporters ruled the roost. In 1980, cnn was born. Television reporters at the white house were on the rise. And they needed good pictures and sound. Ill be covering the president and his advisers as they have never been covered before. The mediasavvy Reagan Administration<\/a> understood that and remodeled the Briefing Room<\/a> to help create better pictures. The old doctors waiting room look gave way to theater seating. Quality studio lighting, better microphones. There were also now lots of cables, which allowed tv to go live when needed, which was often. We became a deadline every minute. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States<\/a>. All this meant, when reagan came into the Briefing Room<\/a>, the networks could easily take it live. Has it damaged your reputation, mr. President . I was worried about you. Anything you want to say which advisers like david gergen sometimes thought was too much of a good thing. Reagan was under a lot of pressure to come out and give a press briefing. We wanted to get the news out but we didnt want him out there for an hour taking questions. Enter david gergen and nancy reagan with cake. When we got past the requisite 15 minutes, we opened the door widely and had this great big birthday cake. Happy birthday to you and then he shared the cake, shared the ice cream. The press briefing was over. You sold out for less than a piece of cake. No deals. Oh, you sold it out for less than that. It was david gergen who took the Briefing Room<\/a> podium first. Good afternoon. On one of the darkest days there, the day Ronald Reagan<\/a> was shot. His condition is stable. A decision is now being made whether or not to operate. And gergen was present that day when secretary of state Alexander Haig<\/a> made an infamous Briefing Room<\/a> blunder. As of now, im in control here in the white house. He said im in charge here, as if the constitution put him next in line, which was not true. It became an albatross for al haig. When he ran for president , its what did him in. It was a rough day in the Briefing Room<\/a>. In addition to the president , the man who ran the room, press secretary james brady, was badly wounded. The Vice President<\/a> landed at andrews at 6 30. Ordinary Daily Briefing<\/a>s were still not live. Were waiting for the united nations. That all changed during president clintons second term. Press secretary mike mccurry decided he would allow the Daily Briefing<\/a> to be broadcast live. Several radio reporters that came and met with me and said, look, were at a disadvantage here because we need the sound in order to broadcast every hour on the hour. I had come from the state department, i had been the spokesman at the u. S. State department where the briefings were televised. He said, i dont see any reason why we shouldnt do it. In fact i didnt even ask permission. I think at some point i told leon panetta, who was the chief of staff, i said, im allowing the broadcast guys to have full access to the briefing now because they used to have limits on it. He said, eh, thats fine. Nobody thought it was a big deal. Until there was a sex scandal. Would it be improper for the president of the United States<\/a> to have had a sexual relationship with this woman . Mike mccurry has apologized to every one of his successors for being the press secretary who agreed to allow the entire briefing to be filmed zbrp whats your next move . My next move is to get off this podium as quick as possible. It laid the groundwork for what we have today, forever changing the questions. We started seeing repetition of people asking the same question because they wanted to be on camera asking the question for purposes of their own network broadcast. What do you mean by an improper relationship . Im not going to parse the statement. You all got the statement i made earlier and it speaks for itself. One more stab at this. Why are these allegations outrageous . Changing the answers. Youve tried now i think a dozen different ways to get me to amplify on the statement. Im clearly not going to do it. The press secretary, the briefer, now knowing theyre on television, far more careful from the standpoint of not going beyond the guidance. Im not leaving any impression, david, and dont twist my words. And changing the main purpose of the briefing, which was to provide information. Thats because televised briefings are viewed by a much larger audience. Does the president have anything to say to Monica Lewinsky<\/a> . In that environment, then the pressure increases to use the briefing for more than just information, but use it as an opportunity to persuade. In 2000, the press room was officially named after press secretary james brady, who never returned to the podium. By 2007, there was a major renovation of the room and surrounding press space. Welcome back to the west wing. We missed you. Sort of. [ laughter ] new cables and servers laid the groundwork for the next technological wave to change the Briefing Room<\/a>. The internet. They were tucked away, tucked below, actually. Remember the Swimming Pool<\/a> . This is the way down. What youre looking at here are the actual tiles of the Swimming Pool<\/a>. Theyve been autographed over the years by some famous and not so famous visitors. This is bono here, see the glasses with the nose. And then i signed my name right next to his. Should i sign near you and bono . Im on it, its official. And here he is. Ahead, president s in the Briefing Room<\/a>. Thanksmrs. Murphy. Unitedhealthcare, hi, i need help getting an appointment with my podiatrist. Hows wednesday at 2 . I cant. Dog agility. Tuesday at 11 . Nope. Robot cage match. How about the 28th at 3 . Done. With Unitedhealthcare Medicare<\/a> advantage plans, including the only plans with the aarp name, theres so much to take advantage of. From scheduling appointments to finding specialists, its easier to get the care you need when you need it. With tripadvisor finding the right hotel at the lowest price is as easy as dates, deals, done. Going on a work trip . Dates, deals, done. Destination wedding . Dates, deals, done. Because with tripadvisor all you have to do is enter the dates of your stay and well take care of the rest searching over 200 booking sites to find you the best deal its as easy dates, deals, you know the rest. owl hoots read reviews, check hotel prices, book things to do, tripadvisor. Missing your Family Reunion<\/a> or being the surprise guest. At Jackson Hewitt<\/a> we help lots of people like you. You could get up to 3500 with a no fee refund advance. So why wait . Visit Jackson Hewitt<\/a> today. So why wait . So did you gkind of. Car . Thanks to navy federal it only took 5 minutes. So vets can join . Oh yeah. How do you kind of buy a new car . Its used. Its for mikey. You know hes gonna have girls in that car. Yeah. Hes gonna have two of them. Great benefits for veterans from Navy Federal Credit<\/a> union. Our members are the mission. I never thought id say this but i found bladder leak underwear thats actually pretty. Always discreet boutique. Hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel. So i feel protected and pretty. Always discreet boutique. Drop off onya. Pick up perry. And get to the store by five. On it. Yes girls, im totally free this thursday. Tell kat, to call carla, to confirm katrina is still coming. Olly. I guess theyve been listening to me a lot more. Hillary clinton in the trump era, this is the president s Briefing Room<\/a>. I want to just tell you something. The president has taken the stage with him. And he treats rooms that are not the Briefing Room<\/a> as the Briefing Room<\/a>. Thank you, everybody. President trump often answers questions en route to his chopper or at the end of oval office events. Thank you. Thank you. I may, i may. Im not sure. In june, he even did 20 minutes of q a on the front lawn of the white house. Everybodys walking backwards, asking him questions. Ive never seen a president do an interview on the front lawn, ever. Of course President Trump<\/a>s favorite place to brief the president every morning has his own Daily Briefing<\/a> with no one there, on twitter. Mr. Trump has only been in the real Briefing Room<\/a> once. First time ive ever done it. First time ive done it for you. But he didnt take any questions. Mr. President president obama was willing to come in there at important times when he felt something needed to be said or the engagement needed to happen. Trayvon martin could have been me. 35 years ago. Like after the not guilty verdict in the killing of trayvon martin. George h. W. Bush would come out. He did a lot of press conferences in the Briefing Room<\/a>. At least once he used the room to play a joke. I was sitting here and i was just reading a sports page. All of a sudden i hear this door open from behind me, i dont even look. And i hear, hey, can i borrow that sports page . Im like, yeah, sure. I just kind of like do this, and i hear, gotcha i look up, and its bush 41, like in the door, and he shuts the door real fast and takes off and the whole room scrambles. Good morning. His son didnt like the space much. Because its so compact, i mean, the podium is just a few feet away from the front row. He preferred more rose garden setting where the press is a little further back, its a little more open, or the east room if it was a primetime News Conference<\/a>. As for those former solo president ial News Conference<\/a>s, president obama did 20 of them in his first 23 months. President george w. Bush did seven. President trump has also done seven. One in the east room, less than a month after inauguration. The reporting is fake. I just see many, many untruthful things. Another in new york. Somebody said, well, this is the first News Conference<\/a> in a long time. I said, what do you mean . Every time i sit, i take a lot of questions from people that are screaming like maniacs. Rudy knows its the informal, unplanned q a the president prefers. I think were going to have a very successful hes had more than 300 of those interactions, quadruple the number president obama had. Any questions . So is this president s preference for informal over formal a problem . It is a problem. And to be clear, its not as if asking him questions will necessarily result in truthful, candid answers. But it is important to be able in this u. S. Democracy to question our president. And he has shielded him from that. Mr. President , are you a racist . Formal press conferences give you a chance to ask questions at greater length. Theyre not on the fly. Youre not shouting them. He doesnt get to control when he cuts it off the same way. Mr. President . In january 2018 the president cut off a question about immigration from cnns jim acosta. Just caucasian or white countries, sir . Or do you want people to come in from other parts of the world . Thats enough. Put down the mike. Months later, this happened. You are a rude, terrible person. The fallout has journalists alarmed. Thats next. Our members shop a little differently. So we reward every purchase. Lets see what kate sent. For you. For all of us. Thats for me. Navy federal credit union our members, are the mission. On average, well live move more in eleven homes. In the world. And every time we move, things change. Apartments become houses, cars become mini vans. As we upgrade and downsize, an allstate agent will do the same for our protection. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . Ahoy gotcha nooooo. Noooooo. Quick, the quicker picker upper bounty picks up messes quicker and is 2x more absorbent. Bounty, the quicker picker upper. Amazon prime video so when you say words like. Show me best of prime video into this. Youll see awesome stuff like this. Discover prime originals like the emmywinning the marvelous mrs. Maisel. Tom clancys jack ryan. And the man in the high castle. All in the same place as your live tv. Its all included with your amazon prime membership. Thats how xfinity makes tv. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Three days before sean spicer took the Briefing Room<\/a> podium and attempted to alter facts this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period president obama used the same room to remind reporters about their obligation to dig for them. Youre supposed to ask me tough questions and make sure that we are accountable to the people who sent us here. It was almost like a parting lesson about the importance of the fourth estate, the importance of the first amendment. The right to free speech. And a free press. The enemy. The enemy of the people, i call them. Im trying to answer your question. In the Briefing Room<\/a> in august jim acosta made an issue of the words the president uses to try to undermine the free press. The president of the United States<\/a> should not refer to us as the enemy of the people. All im asking you to do, sarah, is to acknowledge that right now and right here. I appreciate your passion. I share it. Ive addressed this question. Ive addressed my personal feelings. Im here to speak on behalf of the president. Hes made his comments clear. That phrase the enemy of the people has historic roots going back to the french revolution. It led to a lot of violence. Closed off the month of july without holding a briefing. If you have open rallies, and these are with a lot of guns. Like the ones the president and his press corps attend regularly. And you get people all whipped up. You do not know whats going to happen next. Theyre saying things like cnn sucks, go home and fake news. Three months later the white house pulled acostas press pass, barring him indefinitely from the Briefing Room<\/a>. I am now getting my hard pass to the secret service. It came hours after this. I think you should let me run the country. You run cnn. And if you did it well your ratings would be much higher let me ask you one mr. President , if i may ask one other question thats enough. Thats enough. Can i ask one other thats enough. Pardon me, maam. Im Sarah Sanders<\/a> tweeted, President Trump<\/a> believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his administration. We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job. I was trying to hang on to the microphone. I didnt put my hands on her or touch her as theyre alleging. After cnn filed a lawsuit, a federal judge ruled in cnns favor. Lets go back to work. Acostas access to the white house was restored. And cnn dropped the lawsuit. Something similar but less severe happened during the summer. Tell us precisely what happened because its very, very worrisome. Cnns Kaitlan Collins<\/a> was banned from a rose garden event. Mr. President for asking the president questions following an oval office event. Mr. President , are you worried about thank you very much. What Michael Cohen<\/a> is going to say to prosecutors . They thought the questions i posed to President Trump<\/a> were inappropriate and inappropriate for that venue. Thank you, everybody. I told them that is often our only chance to ask the president questions. Those questions were questions any reporter would have asked. Thank you. Sanders issued a statement saying collins shouted questions and refused to leave. Lets go. Come on, guys. Thank you very much. To be clear, we support a free press, wrote sanders. Another example of trying to control the White House Press<\/a> corps are the actual press briefings. Audio check. One, two, three the White House Holding<\/a> its first oncamera briefing in 19 days. Over june, july, and august of 2018 there were a total of 13 briefings. September through december there were just five. Remember, these used to be daily. And theyre getting shorter too. At the beginning of the Trump Administration<\/a> the average briefing was 43 minutes. During the Summer Sanders<\/a> solo briefings averaged 20 minutes. Theyre shorter because they dont prepare for them as well. Because they dont view them as the place through which the white house actually communicates. You guys want to create a narrative that just doesnt exist. Hey, guys. And they also just feel that the briefings are needlessly contentious. John gizzi. Thank you, sarah. John gizzi of conservative newsmax sees it a little differently. When things get a little too tense sometimes, when theres too much shouting i let you rudely interrupt me one wants to go on and do other things. The briefing has become more of a show than an outlet of information for the media. In may sean spicer suggested the Daily Briefing<\/a>s were no longer worth the administrations time. The time and effort that it takes to get that briefing going and what you get on the outside you know, in return is not worth it anymore. Reporter an appalling argument to white house reporters past and present. It is the only time that our government stands up there and is even partly held accountable. You need to take questions. Some people have suggested theyre just a waste of time now, theres no substance to them. No. You should just get rid of the Daily Briefing<\/a>. No. No. Dont give up. Dont give up. Reporters, people in the press know anything, its that you dont give up. Quiescence, complacency, is the enemy of the truth. We wanted to talk with the Trump Press Office<\/a> about the future of the briefings, but they didnt answer any of our multiple requests. Sarah sanders did discuss the infrequency of the briefings with fox news in late september. I always think if you can hear directly from the president , and the press has the chance to ask the president of the United States<\/a> questions the United States<\/a> questions directly, thats infinitely better than talking to me. In the leadup to the election the president did more interviews than usual. We keep hearing that the white house is in chaos. Its so false. And answered many informal reporter questions. This is one of the most important elections i think were going to do well with the house. I would call in the military, and i would seal off the border. Do you worry that this is the new normal, that future administrations will handle the press the same way that the Trump Administration<\/a> has . The press has evolved with every president from the fireside chat to twitter now. So who knows what the next president will use to communicate things . But i hope the Briefing Room<\/a> remains because it is that one chance where you can ask questions about your government. Denials that have been coming in the real danger is what comes after. And if we establish a new norm, that truth plays second to politics, that the press Briefing Room<\/a> is being weaponized against your opponents, i think thats going to weaken one of the basic foundations of our democracy. Weve always taken for granted our democracy is sacred. Its been here forever. Its going to stay forever. Over a dozen countries since the end of the cold war have gone from being democracies to authoritarian states. Were not there yet. But if we let these sacred traditions slip away from us, this can be very, very hard to rebuild. And you thought it was just a room. Sarah, its the third briefing youve not taken a question from cnn. Do you expect the Justice Department<\/a> to announcer the following is a cnn special report. Have you got an extra camera in case the lights go out . This is what impeachment looks like. Ollie . Only the cbs crew now is to be in this room during this. Only the crew. No. There will be no picture. After the broadcast. Youve taken your picture. Facing certain removal, richard n","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia800902.us.archive.org\/18\/items\/CNNW_20190127_020000_CNN_Special_Report\/CNNW_20190127_020000_CNN_Special_Report.thumbs\/CNNW_20190127_020000_CNN_Special_Report_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240617T12:35:10+00:00"}

© 2025 Vimarsana