Erin Burnett OutFront

CNN's David Gergen 'Can't Remember' Anyone Undermining a President
By Bryan Ballas | March 12, 2015 | 1:35 PM EDT

Now that Hillary Clinton has finally revealed that she broke e-mail protocol for the sake of convenience, CNN can now direct the nation’s fury toward the evil Republicans who sent a letter to the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism, explaining that President Obama’s deal is as constitutionally strong as Iran’s sincerity in cultivating nuclear energy.

Enter CNN’s David Gergen, who, despite working for the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan Administrations, announced on Tuesday night's Erin Burnett OutFront that he “can't remember an instance in which such a letter has been sent. This much of an interference has been launched from the halls of Congress with the President in the midst of negotiations.”  

Networks Fail to Cover News Taliban Detainee Swapped for Bergdahl Is Trying to Rejoin Group
By Curtis Houck | January 30, 2015 | 12:57 AM EST

On Thursday night, the major broadcast networks declined to cover reports that one of the five Taliban detainees swapped for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in May 2014 has been seeking to rejoin the terrorism ranks by contacting Taliban members back in Afghanistan.

The news, which was broken by CNN Thursday afternoon, came following reports on Wednesday from Fox News and NBC News that the Army could be pressing desertion charges against Bergdahl for leaving his post prior to his capture in 2009. Since those stories arose, the Pentagon has denied those allegations.

NAACP President: ‘Burn This Bi*** Down’ Not ‘A Call For Violence’
By Jeffrey Meyer | November 26, 2014 | 8:18 AM EST

On Tuesday night, Cornell Brooks, president of the NAACP, appeared on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront to discuss the shooting death of Michael Brown and dismissed calls for violence by a member of Michael Brown’s immediate family as inciting violence. Burnett played video of Brown’s stepfather, Louis Head, telling a crowd of protestors to “burn this bi*** down” after the grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson and asked Brooks if “that served as a call for violence?” Rather than condemn Brown’s stepfather’s highly charged rhetoric, the president of the NAACP proclaimed “I don't think that was a call for violence or it caused violence.” 

Reince Priebus Surprises CNN Host by Stating 'I Don't Believe a Thing' Obama Says
By Randy Hall | November 6, 2014 | 7:05 PM EST

The fallout from Tuesday's midterm elections continued to be felt on Wednesday evening, when the host of CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront pressed Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus on whether his party -- which had just won control of both chambers of Congress -- will make “a fresh start” and agree to more compromises when working with the president during his last two years in the White House.

“I don't believe a thing he says,” the GOP official responded bluntly. Regarding immigration reform, he declared that Obama is “not trustworthy on this issue, and the only thing he has done is he's unified the country against” his policies.

CNN Spotlights How CDC Chief 'Dodged Even Basic Questions' on Ebola
By Matthew Balan | October 17, 2014 | 3:28 PM EDT

On Thursday's Erin Burnett OutFront, CNN's Tom Foreman zeroed in on representatives on "both sides of the aisle...[who] are also clearly frustrated by what they see as a lack of answers and accountability from the CDC." Foreman highlighted that "CDC Director Tom Frieden dodged even basic questions – like how did two hospital workers get the disease" at a congressional hearing on the federal government's response to Ebola entering the U.S.

CNN's 'Erin Burnett OutFront' Puts Spotlight on Persecution of Christians in China
By Ken Shepherd | September 15, 2014 | 9:26 PM EDT

"Christians in China are facing the most brutal crackdown in decades from their own government," CNN's Erin Burnett informed viewers of her Monday, September 15 program Erin Burnett OutFront. "Tonight we have exclusive video out front that shows police beating church members," the CNN anchor noted as she introduced a report from Beijing-based correspondent David McKenzie.

At the end of his taped story, Burnett noted that the Chinese Communists have blacked out McKenzie's story in China every time it's supposed to air.

Israeli Ambassador Dermer Slams CNN's Bias-by-Omission During Live 'Erin Burnett OutFront' Interview
By Ken Shepherd | July 24, 2014 | 10:05 PM EDT

Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer wasted no time on this evening's Erin Burnett OutFront to hit CNN for bias by omission in its reporting on Palestinian casualties at a United Nations hospital in the Gaza Strip.

"I think it would be a disservice to your viewers for a [CNN] reporter from Gaza not to mention that in the last week we had two different UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Works Agency] schools where we had actually rockets found in the schools and handed over to Hamas," Dermer chided host Erin Burnett, who interrupted, "These are two different UN schools, you're saying." "That's correct," the ambassador replied, continuing his attack on the network's bias with a suggestion that the network was not properly doing its homework on the conflict (emphasis mine; watch video below page break):

CNN’s Burnett Gives Platform to Illegal Immigrant Journalist to Play the Race Card
By Connor Williams | July 15, 2014 | 5:15 PM EDT

On the July 14 edition of Erin Burnett OutFront, the host gave ample time to advocates of amnesty for illegal immigrants.  In fact, Burnett dedicated an entire segment of her program to an interview with a group of illegal immigrants, headlined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and himself an illegal immigrant, Jose Antonio Vargas.

Vargas – naturally a pillar of objectivity on the subject – made sure to criticize Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) for “politicizing” the issue and lamenting that there has not been enough talk about the “humanity” of the situation. This is a slightly bewildering, since the one thing left and right can agree on regarding the border is that this is in fact a humanitarian crisis. Later in the segment, Vargas declared that “I don’t want to bring race into this” issue. He immediately followed by doing just that, asking: “but if these were white kids would we be doing this to the kids?” [MP3 audio here; video below]

'Hardball' Ignores Bill Clinton's 'Dead Broke' Defense; CNN's 'OutFront' Makes Light of Spin
By Ken Shepherd | June 24, 2014 | 9:20 PM EDT

Although the 42nd U.S. president made the remarks during a taped interview Tuesday for sister network NBC's Meet the Press, MSNBC's Chris Matthews completely ignored Bill Clinton's defense of his wife's "dead broke" statement as "factually true."

By contrast, the competition over at CNN on Erin Burnett OutFront featured a panel discussion in which the participants made light of Mr. Clinton's defense of his consort and forecast that Bill Clinton might end up being a net negative for his wife on the campaign trail, as he was in the 2008 primaries. [MP3 audio here; video follows page break]

CNN’s Erin Burnett Rushes To Defend Hillary Clinton During Interview With Ted Cruz
By Jeffrey Meyer | June 17, 2014 | 10:31 PM EDT

CNN host Erin Burnett did her best to provide cover for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the issue of Benghazi during a highly combative interview with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Cruz appeared on Erin Burnett OutFront on Tuesday, June 17 and was immediately met with a barrage of questions from the CNN host in which she defended Ms. Clinton from numerous criticisms over Benghazi. [See video below.]  

Erin Burnett Asks Democrat If Darrell Issa Should Lose His Chairmanship
By Matt Hadro | March 6, 2014 | 11:56 PM EST

On Thursday's OutFront, CNN's Erin Burnett teed up Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings to call for Rep. Darrell Issa's ouster as chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

After a hearing where former IRS chief Lois Lerner dodged questions on the scandal she is at the center of, CNN joined NBC in focusing its outrage instead on Issa, who cut Cummings' microphone when the latter began railing against the proceeding. Burnett called that a "new low" for Congress on Wednesday, and then on Thursday she relayed the call for Issa's removal from the Congressional Black Caucus.

CNN’s Erin Burnett Claims Only Aryan Nation Uses Word ‘Mongrel’ After Playing Clip of Obama Using Same Word
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 25, 2014 | 9:34 AM EST

Musician Ted Nugent has come under fire for recent comments he made where he referred to President Obama as a “communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel.” Since then, CNN has been leading the charge condemning Nugent for his aggressive rhetoric made at the president.

Despite the highly offensive nature of Nugent’s rant, CNN’s Erin Burnett awkwardly played a clip of President Obama using the same word as Nugent in a 2012 appearance on “The View” before the CNN host claimed that “the only use of the word mongrel that I could find in common talk, because you're talking about street talk, was actually the Aryan Nation membership form.” [See video below.]