Sarah Huckabee Sanders rips CNN, media at heated briefing

The feud between the Trump White House and CNN reached a fever pitch Tuesday during a feisty press briefing where Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed “fake news” and said Americans “deserve something better.”
Sanders conducted the first televised briefing in a week, following complaints from the press corps that too many are being held off-camera. She took the podium in place of Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who was on Capitol Hill for a GOP Senate luncheon.
Breitbart News’ Charlie Spiering asked the first question, challenging Sanders on why CNN’s retraction of a recent story was not sufficient enough for the president, who on Tuesday took to Twitter and said: “Wow, CNN had to retract big story on “Russia,” with 3 employees forced to resign. What about all the other phony stories they do? FAKE NEWS!”
TRUMP TAKES AIM AT MEDIA AFTER RUSSIA STORY RETRACTION
CNN had retracted a story linking a Trump adviser to a Russian investment fund. Three journalists involved in the story’s publication have since resigned and CNN issued an apology to the Trump adviser.
“I don’t know if that response is good enough,” Sanders said Tuesday. “It’s the barrage of fake news directed at the president that has garnered his frustration. ... We have gone to a place where if the media can’t be trusted to report the news, then that’s a dangerous place for America.”
Sanders went on to reference an undercover video allegedly showing a CNN producer knocking the network's Russia-Trump coverage.
“There are multiple instances when that outlet has been wrong—there’s a video circulating now, whether it's accurate or not, not sure—but I encourage everyone to take a look at it,” she said. “If it is accurate, I think it’s a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism.”
Sanders added that the media has been “going on [the] Russia, Trump-hoax for the better part of a year now,” and that “America is looking for something more.”
But Spiering pushed back, asking if the president expects the media “not to report on stories of a foreign country trying to influence the election?”
“I don’t think it’s expected you’re not to report on actual news, but I think there are a lot of things happening in the world that people would like to hear about—job growth, deregulation—those things deserve more coverage,” Sanders said. “I think we should take a good look at what we are focused on and making sure it’s accurate.”
Sanders added, “If we make the slightest mistake, it is an absolute tirade from a lot of people in this room, but news outlets get to go on, day after day, and cite unnamed sources, and use stories without sources.”
Brian J. Karem, executive editor of The Montgomery County Sentinel, a local newspaper in Maryland, then accused Sanders of being “inflammatory.”
“You’re inflaming everyone here,” Karem said. “We’re here to ask questions, you’re here to provide answers—what you did is inflammatory—everybody in this room is just trying to do their job.”
Sanders fired back and said that the problem is “the dishonesty that often takes place in the news media.”
“It is outrageous to accuse me of inflaming a story when I was trying to answer a question,” Sanders added.
Sanders did not take questions from a CNN reporter at the end of the briefing.
The briefing came just a day after president of the White House Correspondents Association, Jeff Mason, also a Reuters correspondent, met with Spicer and Sanders to discuss the issue of White House press briefings.
“The WHCA’s position on this issue is clear: we believe strongly that Americans should be able to watch and listen to senior government officials face questions form an independent news media, in keeping with principles of the First Amendment and the need for transparency at the highest levels of government,” Mason wrote in a letter to his fellow White House correspondents.
Mason urged the White House not to replace on-camera briefings with gaggles, or “not-for-broadcast” question-and-answer sessions.
“Though they are useful and can play an important role in informing the press and the public, gaggles are not a substitute for the open back-and-forth between reporters and administration officials that regular televised briefings allow.”
Changes are also in the works for the White House communications team.
The Trump administration confirmed to Fox News last week that Spicer would be taking on an expanded role, overseeing both White House communications and press offices, and would not run every on-camera press briefing.

Yale University Sues Conn. Over Gender-Neutral Restrooms

Yale University is fighting for gender neutral bathrooms at its school of law.
The university is suing the entire state of Connecticut after the state building inspector’s office denied its request to designate single-occupant restrooms as gender neutral.
Connecticut’s building code requires a certain number of bathrooms in every building be assigned by gender, but Yale argues the move would provide easier access to restrooms for either gender
Yale also believes it would prevent discrimination based on gender identity.

Project Veritas Exposes CNN Fake News

From staging sensational news reports to releasing fake stories about President Trump and Russia, CNN’s reporting techniques are under fire.
Earlier this month, CNN was called out for staging a pro-Muslim protest after the London terror attack.
In a video posted on Youtube, CNN reporter Becky Anderson can be seen directing a few protesters to stand behind her to make the gathering look larger.
On Monday, White House correspondent Jim Acosta repeatedly interrupted Sean Spicer during a briefing, and over the weekend the station retracted a fake news story about Russia prompting a policy change.
Just days after the ‘fake-news’ story about President Trump and Russia was retracted by CNN, a new undercover video is revealing what may be a deeper problem at the network.
While the station will now undergo more publishing restrictions, the issue of questionable sources and reporting points to a bigger problem with mainstream media, and bias against President Trump.
This bombshell is one of many released by Project Veritas.

CNN News Cartoons

Three journalists quit CNN in fallout from retracted Russia story

Three CNN journalists who worked on a now-retracted story about Russia and a top Trump adviser are leaving the network.
CNN is casting their departure as resignations in the wake of the fiasco, but the network has come under substantial criticism since apologizing for the story. The move would also help CNN’s legal position in case of a lawsuit.
Anthony Scaramucci, the Trump adviser who is the target of the story, told me that he has no plans to sue. He said he has accepted CNN’s apology and wants to move on.
But Scaramucci also told me in an earlier interview, “I was disappointed the story was published. It was a lie.”
Lex Harris, executive editor of CNN’s investigative unit, was the highest-ranking official to resign. Thomas Frank, who wrote the story, and Eric Lichtblau, who edited it, also turned in their resignations. Lichtblau is a highly regarded reporter who spent nearly a decade and a half at the New York Times.
The story tried to draw a link between Scaramucci and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Scaramucci was a Trump transition team member who has been nominated to an ambassadorial-level post based in Paris.
The CNN.com article said that Scaramucci, back in January, held a secret meeting with an official from the Russian fund. According to an unnamed source, Scaramucci discussed the possibility of lifting U.S. sanctions at the meeting.
But Scaramucci told me there was no secret meeting. He said he had given a speech on Trump’s behalf at Davos, and fund official Kirill Dmitriev approached him in a restaurant to say hello and they had a brief conversation, with no discussion of sanctions.
In the retraction, the network said the story “did not meet CNN’s editorial standards.” The network is now requiring approval from two top editors before any Russia-related story can be published.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz. 

Hannity: Russia allegations 'boomeranging back' on Democrats

Fox News' Sean Hannity said Monday night that the ongoing controversy over Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign had rebounded onto the Democrats and "opened the door for their own investigations and real trouble."
In his opening monologue, the "Hannity" host proclaimed that, "real colluders are the ones who have been claiming collusion."
"The real fault for Russia’s election interference now falls – guess what? – at the feet of former President Obama," Hannity added. "The real crimes were committed, in fact, by Hillary Clinton. The real obstructer of justice is the former attorney general, Loretta Lynch ... And the real corrupt collusion is the relationship between the former FBI director, James Comey, and ... the special counsel Robert Mueller."
Hannity was referring in part to a Washington Post report that detailed Obama's "modest" response to intelligence about Russia attempts to disrupt the campaign.
"If President Obama knew what Russia was doing back in August of 2016, why didn’t he act?" Hannity asked. "The answer, we now know, is simple ... The president didn’t do any investigation because he actually thought Hillary [Clinton] was going to win. In other words, let me translate here, the only reason Russian interference and the story is a big deal, is because Donald Trump won.
"That’s what the special counsel needs to be investigating tonight," the host went on. "Real collusion: Obama this time defending Hillary, colluding so she’d win and not rocking the boat."

Syria could be planning chemical attack, White House says

The Trump administration said late Monday that it had discovered evidence that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad could be planning another chemical weapons attack.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement that "The United States has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children."
Spicer added that the activities resembled preparations for an April chemical weapons attack that was blamed on Damascus.
"As we have previously stated, the United States is in Syria to eliminate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria," Spicer concluded. "If, however, Mr. Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price."
The White House did not detail what prompted the warning.  Several State Department officials typically involved in coordinating such announcements told the Associated Press they were caught completely off guard by the warning, which didn't appear to be discussed in advance with other national security agencies.
Typically, the State Department, the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies would all be consulted before the White House issued such a declaration.
US AIR STRIKES POUND PRO-ASSAD FORCES IN SYRIA
However, a non-governmental source with close ties to the White House told AP the administration had received intelligence that the Syrians were mixing precursor chemicals for a possible sarin gas attack in either the east of south of the country, where government troops and their proxies have faced recent setbacks.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley later said that "any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Asaad, but also on Russia & Iran who support him killing his own people."
Earlier Monday, Trump dined with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and other top officials as he hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.

Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov talked earlier Monday about the need to secure a cease-fire in Syria, fight extremist groups and prevent the use of chemical weapons, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Assad had denied responsibility for the April attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the rebel-held Idlib province that killed dozens of people, including children. Victims show signs of suffocation, convulsions, foaming at the mouth and pupil constriction.
Days later, Trump launched a cruise missile strike on a Syrian government-controlled air base where U.S. officials said the Syrian military had launched the chemical attack.

It was the first direct American assault on the Syrian government and Trump's most dramatic military order since becoming president months before.

Trump said at the time that the Khan Sheikhoun attack crossed "many, many lines," and put the blame squarely on Assad's forces.
Syria, meanwhile, maintained it hadn't used chemical weapons and blamed opposition fighters for stockpiling the chemicals. Russia's Defense Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory.
Chemical weapons have killed hundreds of people since the start of the conflict, with the U.N. blaming three attacks on the Syrian government and a fourth on the ISIS terror group.
On June 18, a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down a Syrian Su-22 after it attacked U.S.-backed fighters in northern Syria near ISIS' de facto capital, Raqqa. Ten days earlier, U.S. officials reported that a drone likely connected to Iranian-supported Hezbollah forces fired on U.S.-backed troops in southern Syria and was shot down by an American fighter jet.

OAN to Expose ‘Fake News on Steroids’ – Exclusive Video on OAN @11A.M. ET Tues.

OAN Newsroom
We want to bring you breaking news about an exclusive video we here at OAN will show you tomorrow.
On Tuesday at 11 A.M Eastern and 8 A.M. Pacific we will show you video of a behind the scenes look at a major national news network working to put out fake news.
The video is being dubbed — fake news on steroids — and shows the network actively pursuing false stories about President Trump colluding with Russia.
So be sure to tune in tomorrow — Tuesday — at 11 A.M. Eastern / 8 A.M. Pacific to see the video first, and find out which network we are talking about.