Soledad O'Brien

Objectivity? Soledad O'Brien Voices Her Support of Bloomberg Soda Ban
By Matt Hadro | March 12, 2013 | 5:13 PM EDT

Count Soledad O'Brien as another CNN supporter of Mayor Bloomberg's nanny state efforts to crack down on big sodas. Even while interviewing both a supporter and an opponent of Bloomberg's ban on Tuesday's Starting Point, O'Brien revealed that she's been "a long supporter of it."

"I've been a long supporter of it. I actually think it's a good idea. But I do think the judge has some interesting points," O'Brien said of the ban, which was struck down by the New York Supreme Court on Monday. On Monday night, CNN's Piers Morgan defended the city's ban on the sale of sugary drinks over 16 ounces.

CNN’s Soledad O’Brien Embarrasses Herself Attacking Fox News Chief Roger Ailes
By Matthew Sheffield | March 8, 2013 | 5:40 PM EST

While being ignorant of the facts is not as bad for a journalist as deliberately suppressing them, not knowing what you’re talking about can be far more embarrassing—and amusing.

Soledad O’Brien, the soon-to-be-former host of CNN’s “Starting Point,” proved that point definitively yesterday when she revealed that she had basically no knowledge of the new favorite story among left-of-center journalists, the supposed racism of Fox News president Roger Ailes.

CNN Pounces on Ailes Calling Obama 'Lazy;' Mostly Ignores That He Cited Obama's Words
By Matt Hadro | March 7, 2013 | 5:33 PM EST

CNN harped on the controversy over Fox News head Roger Ailes calling President Obama "lazy" and Vice President Biden "dumb as an ashtray." The network covered it on five shows on Wednesday and Thursday, but three of the shows ignored that Ailes used Obama's own words.

In making the "lazy" remark, Ailes cited a 2011 interview with Barbara Walters where Obama said that "deep down, underneath all the work that I do, I think there's a laziness in me." Erin Burnett was the only CNN anchor to promptly give that context in her report; on Thursday's Starting Point, conservative panel member Will Cain first brought it up, and co-host John Berman affirmed it.

Farewell, Pope Benedict: Soledad O'Brien Promotes 'Riveting' Anti-Catholic Documentary
By Matt Hadro | February 11, 2013 | 3:14 PM EST

Only an hour after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation from the papacy, and not ten minutes into Monday's Starting Point, CNN's Soledad O'Brien hosted the director of an anti-Catholic documentary who has called Pope Benedict a "criminal" and a "deeply flawed human being."

Director Alex Gibney was O'Brien's first guest on her show. His new film on the clerical sex abuse scandal has been criticized as distorted and misleading and "an anti-Catholic broadside masquerading as a documentary." O'Brien praised it as "riveting, absolutely riveting," however, and let him criticize Pope Benedict. 

CNN Implies Boy Scout Ban 'Discriminatory,' Supporters 'On the Wrong Side of History'
By Matt Hadro | February 6, 2013 | 12:13 PM EST

CNN anchors dropped journalistic integrity and went into full attack mode against supporters of the ban on gay Boy Scouts on Wednesday morning.

When the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins questioned why the Scouts should change their long-standing policy, anchor Soledad O'Brien blurted out "Because it's discriminatory," before adding "Because they think it's discriminatory." She then asked "My final question for you, do you worry you are on the wrong side of history on this?"

CNN Cancels Soledad O’Brien Show, Says It Wasn’t Due to ‘Ethnic’ Viewership
By Randy Hall | January 31, 2013 | 11:21 PM EST

The tumult at CNN that has seen several contributors leave the cable news network continued on Wednesday, when Soledad O'Brien's morning show, “Starting Point,” was canceled because her program's small audience was “too ethnic, based on the high concentration of minority viewers.”

Despite ending O'Brien's morning show, a CNN spokesman told Politico on Thursday that "Soledad is very important to the network, and we're discussing various options with her.”

Changes at CNN as Carville, Matalin, Bennett, Erickson, Whitaker Ousted
By Randy Hall | January 30, 2013 | 10:52 AM EST

When Jeff Zucker became president of CNN earlier this month, some people in the mainstream media feared that this might be the end of “the last bastion of television journalism” since the former head of NBC Universal was expected to make many significant changes in the network personnel and schedule.

Those changes took off on Tuesday, when ABC's Chris Cuomo, who had served as the news anchor on “Good Morning America” from 2006 to 2009 and then moved on to the "20/20" prime-time program, was reported to “have a major role in a new CNN morning show and across the network, anchoring and reporting on major events.”

Soledad O'Brien Challenges GOP: Do Minorities 'Know You and They Decided They Don't Like You?'
By Matt Hadro | January 29, 2013 | 3:53 PM EST

CNN's Soledad O'Brien, well known for her documentaries on race "Latino In America" and "Black In America,"  questioned the GOP's credibility among minority voters on Friday's Starting Point.

Quoting an RNC committeeman who said minority voters and the youth vote "simply don't know" the GOP, O'Brien asked former RNC chair Mel Martinez "is it that they don't know you? Meaning you as the GOP. Or is that they know you and they decided they don't like you?"

CNN's O’Brien Tries to Liken Critics of Women in Infantry to Opponents of Racial Integration
By Paul Bremmer | January 25, 2013 | 5:29 PM EST

With the recent news that outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has lifted the ban on women serving in front-line combat roles, it is no surprise that CNN is cheering the decision. On Friday’s Starting Point, host Soledad O’Brien attempted to undermine those who disagree with the decision by comparing them to opponents of racial integration of the military during the 1940s. [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Speaking to author Kingsley Browne, who opposes women serving in combat, O’Brien tried to set a clever trap. She read Browne a quote from a man she identified only as “this colonel”:

CNN's Berman on Benghazi: 'Don't the Facts Always Make a Difference?'
By Matt Hadro | January 24, 2013 | 5:18 PM EST

On Thursday morning, CNN's John Berman hammered a Democratic congressman who said the cause of the Benghazi attacks doesn't make a difference at this point. In contrast, anchor Soledad O'Brien didn't ask about the controversy over that remark shouted first by Secretary Clinton.
                           
"But, Congressman – don't the facts always make a difference and doesn't knowing the facts and knowing them quickly always help in evaluating the situation so it can be prevented in the future?" Berman pressed.

CNN Hosts Wowed by Obama's Second Inaugural Address
By Matt Hadro | January 21, 2013 | 3:06 PM EST

During President Obama's second inaugural address on Monday, some CNN hosts couldn't hold back their amazement on Twitter.

"Obama sounding more and more like Martin Luther King as this speech goes on - powerful, rousing rhetoric. #inauguration," tweeted Piers Morgan.

Despite CNN's Gun Control Advocacy, Polls Show Drop In Support
By Matt Vespa | January 17, 2013 | 3:48 PM EST

Despite CNN waging a crusade for gun control over the past month, and host Piers Morgan drawing attention with his incessant activism and bullying of his opponents on the gun issue, CNN’s own poll shows that support for some gun control measures has dropped over the past month.

CNN.com reported on its poll Wednesday: "According to the survey, 56% support a ban on semi-automatic guns, but that's down from 62% in a CNN poll taken in the days after the shooting at Sandy Hook. The same is true for a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips - 62% in December, down to 58% now - as well as a requirement for all gun owners to register their firearms with the local government - 78% last month, down to 69% now."