Poynter is reporting that President Donald Trump returned to television on Tuesday when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly, but that the standoff between the White House and U.S. news networks is not over.
Poynter said Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House on Friday over his dissatisfaction with their coverage of his presidency. It said the other members of the White House TV pool — ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC — refused to participate in the pool while the ban remains in place. Trump's UN speech was carried by United Nations TV, whose feed was shared with major news organizations, Poynter said. It said most networks labeled the UN as the source of the footage.
Poynter reported that CNN did not carry the speech live but aired short clips, with anchor Wolf Blitzer telling viewers the network had a live signal provided by United Nations television and would monitor the remarks for newsworthy moments. It said Trump snapped at CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the UN after she asked about polling on the war in Iran, telling her she should not be covering him. Poynter said CNN and Collins have not said they would stop covering Trump, and it quoted a CNN executive saying the network will continue to hold the government to account without fear or favor.
Poynter said CNN, MS NOW and Politico have sued the administration to restore their White House press credentials, and that U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly scheduled a videoconference hearing on the request for Tuesday afternoon. It noted Kelly, appointed by Trump, also ordered the White House to restore the credentials of then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta in 2018.
Poynter also reported that The New York Times described Trump's UN remarks as rife with falsehoods and exaggerations, and that Poynter's PolitiFact fact-checked the speech. It said Fox News aired the speech in full, CNN did not air it live, and MS NOW cut away before it ended to begin fact-checking.
Separately, Poynter reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Trump's media actions in a testy exchange on NBC's "Today" show, telling co-host Craig Melvin that some American news coverage sounds like it is rooting for Iran. It said Melvin asked whether outlets should be barred from covering the president over coverage he dislikes, and Rubio said the outlets were not banned but simply not allowed to work from the White House workspace.
Poynter said MS NOW congressional reporter Mychael Schnell obtained White House talking points sent to Republican members of Congress defending the ban, which argue that no president has been more transparent with the press and that the First Amendment does not grant reporters access to the White House.
Poynter also reported that Sunday's "60 Minutes" drew 6.77 million viewers, up 5% from the second show of last season but down from the season premiere's 7.9 million, and that the program will not air this Sunday because CBS is broadcasting the MTV Video Music Awards. It said CNN contributor Kara Swisher has asked her agent to get her out of her contract, which ends Dec. 31, citing her criticism of Paramount's incoming ownership of CNN.