BS BULLETIN:
- CNN finally regained White House access this week after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s ban.
- The network was scheduled for Saturday’s rotating television pool assignment aboard Air Force One.
- Then the White House replaced CNN with Real America’s Voice for Trump’s trip to Tennessee.
CNN got back through the White House gates. Air Force One is apparently another matter.
The White House removed CNN from the television press pool scheduled to travel with President Donald Trump to Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday, where Trump is attending the University of Tennessee-Texas football game.
CNN had been scheduled for the assignment as part of the rotating television pool.
White House guidance issued Friday night instead listed conservative network Real America’s Voice.
It is the latest twist in a media-access fight that has somehow managed to produce a new twist almost every day.
Trump last week barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House after accusing the outlets of repeatedly publishing false or misleading reporting.
The three organizations sued.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly then issued a temporary order requiring the administration to restore their White House press credentials.
After an initial standoff Thursday morning, CNN and the other outlets eventually got back onto White House grounds.
That victory didn’t settle everything.
As The Daily BS reported Friday, CNN and MS NOW said they were subsequently blocked from covering arrivals for Trump’s state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Then things appeared to calm down.
The five-network television pool — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC — resumed operations Friday after suspending coverage in solidarity with CNN.
CNN even handled part of Friday’s pool coverage as Trump and Xi visited the National Archives.
For a few hours, things almost looked normal. Then came the Saturday travel schedule.
The important legal distinction is that Kelly’s temporary order dealt with the outlets’ White House hard passes.
It did not specifically order the administration to give CNN a particular pool assignment or a seat aboard Air Force One.
That leaves the latest move in somewhat different legal territory from simply refusing to let CNN reporters through the White House gate.
The rotating television pool exists because there isn’t enough room for every network to accompany the president everywhere. The designated outlet provides video and other material that is then shared with the rest of the networks.
CNN’s turn Saturday was supposed to put its journalists aboard Air Force One. Instead, Real America’s Voice got the seat.
CNN may have won the argument over getting back into the White House. The boarding pass appears to be a separate negotiation.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Associated Press — CNN left off Air Force One for Trump’s upcoming trip
- Washington Post — White House blocks CNN from trip on Air Force One
- WLRN/NPR — CNN left off Air Force One as White House signals new media restriction
- CNN — White House bars CNN from covering Trump aboard Air Force One
- The Guardian — White House blocks CNN from Air Force One
