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Aides to Donald Trump aren’t pleased with Elon Musk being a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, with some declaring how “odd” it is.
According to reports, tech billionaire Elon Musk has been a constant fixture at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, for the past week unnerving those close to him. Sources have revealed that the Tesla CEO dined with the president-elect and his wife Sunday (Nov. 10), and roamed the estate with his son almost every day beginning on Election Day.
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“While Musk himself is still not expected to take any kind of formal position inside Trump’s administration, given how complicated it would be with his companies, what’s becoming clearer tonight is that he doesn’t really need to,” CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins said in a news segment. “One source told me, Elon Musk is having just as much influence from the outside.” She went on to add that Musk has been present for calls to Trump from various world leaders and that “he’s also weighing in on staffing decisions, making clear his preference for certain roles even.”
CNN tech journalist Kara Swisher confirmed the tech billionaire’s influence and aides’ reaction. “He definitely inserts himself all the time, that’s his style,” Swisher said in a report on Monday (Nov. 11). “I’ve heard from Trump people, calling me saying, ‘Oh, wow. This is odd’. And it is.” Elon Musk lent his services to aid Trump in the election’s final days, creating a political action committee (and spending over $100 million in the process) and even moving to Pennsylvania. With that support came controversy, as it was revealed that Musk has been talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin for over two years, facing pressure to comply with the authoritarian’s demands.
Trump previously promised Musk would have a significant say in his administration, but observers feel there would be an eventual ego clash leaving Musk out in the cold. “There’s room for only one star, one genius in the Trump White House,” historian David Nasaw wrote in an opinion-editorial for the New York Times. “As the president-elect has told us time and again, he is one smart fellow and a ‘very stable genius.’ He is not going to share his victory and center stage with anyone. And why should he?”
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Diddy’s demand to have the names of witnesses against him in his upcoming criminal trial has been blasted by prosecutors in a recent filing.
According to reports, a request by the legal team for Diddy to reveal the names of those witnesses for the prosecution has been rebuked in a recent filing. “The Victim Gag Motion should be denied as an attempt to backdoor the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to compel the Government to prematurely disclose its witness list,” wrote prosecutors for the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York in a filing on Thursday (Oct. 31).
The 56-page motion blasted lawyers Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos for the move, writing: “Not only would such relief be unprecedented, but the defendant should not be permitted to use a local criminal rule as a sword to gag civil claimants whether or not their statements were connected to this criminal proceeding, or to evade established case law in this Circuit.” The motion also dismissed allegations levied by Agnifilo and Geragos that the federal government leaked to the public the 2016 hotel security footage that showed Diddy, aka Sean Combs, assault his then-partner Cassie Ventura.
“As the defendant is fully aware, the video was not in the Government’s possession at the time of CNN’s publication and the Government has never, at any point, obtained the video through grand jury process,” wrote U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, who also swatted away other defense claims that the government leaked material to media outlets. “Here, too, the defendant is grasping at straws. Because the defendant cannot show that the information in the Cited Articles is grand jury material, and because he cannot show that Government agents with access to grand jury material leaked the information, he cannot make the prima facie showing required for the relief he seeks.”
The filing comes as the grand jury for the criminal case is continuing to meet and hear from witnesses as well as to review new evidence submitted by the government including text messages, video, and audio from 60 of Diddy’s devices. “The grand jury is always meeting. This is an ongoing investigation,” said one source close to the case to CNN. The case, set to be heard by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, will begin May 5, 2025. Diddy is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: CNN / x
A CNN discussion fell into chaos as guest panelist Mehdi Hasan was labeled a terrorist by another guest, and social media was incensed.
On Monday night (October 28), CNN host Abby Phillip was moderating a panel discussion that devolved into chaos as one guest panelist inferred that Medhi Hasan, another panelist, was a terrorist. The discussion was centered on the controversial Donald Trump campaign rally held the day before in Madison Square Garden, including Hasan and conservative Ryan Girdusky. Hasan opined that if right-wing supporters of Trump didn’t want to be labeled as “Nazis”, they shouldn’t make anti-Semitic statements. “You’re called an anti-Semite more than anyone at this table,” Girdusky replied, to which Hasan retorted, “Yeah, by you.” As Hasan stated that his support of the Palestinian people made him susceptible to those attacks, Girdusky then said, “Well, I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” referring to the Israeli military operation targeting Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon weeks ago by setting off their pagers which contained hidden explosives.
Here’s the video of Ryan Gidursky saying to Mehdi Hasan, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.” https://t.co/Zn1B7SCI8i pic.twitter.com/5MX93GOeAe
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 29, 2024
Girdusky tried to continue speaking but the former MSNBC host cut him off. “Did you just say I should die? Did you just say I should be killed live on CNN?”, he asked. Girdusky then claimed he thought Hasan supported the Hamas terror organization, which Hasan denied, leading Girdusky to say, “Then, I apologize.” The other panelists were stunned as Phillip said, “Ryan, that is completely out of pocket.” The program went to commercial, and Hasan and Girdusky weren’t present. Phillip would issue an apology to Hasan and the viewers on-air.
Phillip: I want to apologize to Mehdi Hasan for what was said at this table. It was completely unacceptable when we get this discussion started, you’ll see that Ryan is not at the table… I want to apologize to the viewers at home pic.twitter.com/wyPaStHUex
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 29, 2024
CNN would issue a statement on X, formerly Twitter, banning Girdusky from appearing on the network. Girdusky attacked CNN afterward, writing in another post on X: “You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and have taken money from Qatar-funded media. Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for.” The situation was met with outrage by many on social media who viewed the clip. Lawyer Qasim Rashid questioned the network’s decision to have Girdusky on in the first place: “He calls it a “joke” but his racist comment isn’t isolated. He’s a Project 2025 advisor, runs a racist PAC, & previously wrote for a Nazi—yet CNN invited him on anyway. Why?”
MAGA pundit Ryan Girdusky spewed to Hasan “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”
He calls it a “joke” but his racist comment isn’t isolated.
He’s a Project 2025 advisor, runs a racist PAC, & previously wrote for a Nazi—yet CNN invited him on anyway. Why?🤔https://t.co/dKvLG9W7ie
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) October 29, 2024
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1. Vince Aries
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Charlamagne Tha God and Anderson Cooper engaged in a testy back and forth regarding CNN’s coverage of Vice President Kamala Harris concerning how the network has covered her opponent, Donald Trump. Charlamagne Tha God challenged Anderson Cooper on his colleagues making more about Harris’ race while seemingly ignoring Trump’s recent media gaffes and his former staffers framing him as a fascist.
On Thursday (October 24), Charlamagne Tha God was a panelist on Anderson Cooper’s nightly program, and the longtime The Breakfast Club co-host took a question regarding the news Trump will be joining the popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Cooper asked if Harris should follow suit, to which Charlamagne had plenty to say.
“I think that she should keep calling Donald Trump a fascist. And I think that Americans need to keep looking at the rhetoric of Donald Trump because I don’t know why we’re even thinking about electing somebody who’s talking about putting people in camps,” Charlamagne said.
He continued with, “I don’t know why we’re talking, why we want to elect somebody who’s talking about mass deportation. I don’t know why we’re having this conversation about somebody who wants to terminate the Constitution to overthrow the results of an election.”
Charlamagne ended his answer by saying, “Even me bringing it up now, you brought it back to Kamala and Joe Rogan. Anderson, who gives a damn?” which sparked Cooper to position the point that people who are watching the election might care to hear from her on the platform.
Charlamagne, responding to Cooper saying that how the network is reporting on some of Trump’s violent rhetoric, uttered a statement that has since gone viral.
“I feel like I heard more on this network about [if] Kamala Harris Black than I do about, you know, Donald Trump being a fascist,” he said.
This comment seemed to fluster Cooper, who said, “Honestly, that’s bullsh*t” and the conversation essentially derailed from there with Charlamagne flipping the statement back on Cooper saying that the idea that his network has done enough of dissecting Trump’s words as a comparison.
The clip, which was captured by @Acyn, can be viewed below. Keep scrolling to see comments from X.
Charlamagne: I feel like I heard more on this network about “is Kamala Harris Black” than I do about Trump being a fascist
Cooper: That’s bullshit
Charlamagne: That’s bullshit to say you don’t have those conversations pic.twitter.com/145q2vRMMJ
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 25, 2024
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Malcolm X might be the last historical figure to come to mind as it relates to the politics of Republican Party presidential hopeful, Donald Trump. However, a Black conservative evoked one of Malcolm X’s most famous quotes regarding “House Negroes” and “Field Negroes,” saying that those in the field are “going for Trump.”
Shelly Wynter, who refers to himself as a Traditionalist conservative, was a guest on CNN this week with anchor Sara Sidner and were having a discussion about the upcoming election race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Wynter referenced Malcolm X’s famous 1963 speech in which the civil rights leader presented a comparison of two types of so-called Negroes, a widely used term at the time to describe Black people in America. In the speech, X lays out that the house Negro was partial to the slave owner and wanted his favor, while the field Negro held the slave owner in contempt.
Wynter, perhaps misunderstanding or misrepresenting X’s quotes, shocked the CNN panel by saying that the “field African American” to use his words would pull the lever for Trump.
“Let’s be honest here, and let’s really be clear what’s being said,” Wynter began in the now viral c. “If you’re an African American man, look, let me boil this election down in the African American community to a very simple [way]. I’ll reference the great Malcolm X. This race is between house African Americans and field African Americans, and a field African Americans going for Trump.”
Wynter added, “I’m talking about your men who build, your men who put things together, your men who work with their hands, your men who do things, not the men who push paper or the men are connected to power and want to continue to be connected to power, I’m talking about the men in our community who are doing the work.”
Sidner was taken aback by Wynter’s analysis and attempted to offer some pushback but was met with overtalking with Wynter deftly evading her question asking if he was putting down Black men with white-collar professions. Michael Blake, the former DNC Vice Chair and an aide to President Barack Obama, didn’t allow Wynter to own the moment and challenged his assertions.
“Is Shelley the house one or the field one?” Blake said. “I’m just trying to understand that part, I’m just trying to understand the one that’s spitting talking points right now. Are you the house Negro and the field Negro that you’re referring to? I’m just trying to make sure. Your question was about denigrating Black people, that literally was your question. You have a Republican fool who was talking right now. You literally just said Black men, this is an election about house or field. This is the nonsense that we are listening to right now by those that are supporting Donald Trump.”
The clip is still making its rounds across social media with many sharing their thoughts on why Shelly Wynter used Malcolm X’s speech to hammer his point him. We’ve got the clip in question and responses from the X platform below.
This CNN discussion goes completely off the rails when radio host Shelley Wynter says: “This race is between house African-Americans and field African-Americans, and the field African-Americans are going for Donald Trump.”
Needless to say, things broke down after that. pic.twitter.com/e1Gyh8IZX4
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 16, 2024
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Source: Tom Williams / Getty
Kamala Harris’ presence & performance during her CNN interview were received well by social media, who also pointed out the flaws of the questioning.
On Thursday (August 29), Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris sat down for a primetime interview with Dana Bash of CNN and the reactions afterward were full of praise for her presence and deft answers from online observers. Her vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, was also present for the conversation which took place in Savannah, Georgia while the two were in the city before a campaign rally. Bash’s first question was about what Vice President Harris would do once elected. She wasted no time in stating that her highest priority should she be elected to office would be to “support and strengthen the middle class” with several policies including stifling corporate price gouging and increasing the child tax credit along with access to affordable housing.
Harris in response to first Q from Dana Bash: Sadly in the last decade we have had in the former president someone who has really been pushing an agenda & environment that’s about diminishing the character & strength of who we are as Americans. People are ready to turn the page pic.twitter.com/joNm229Jap
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 30, 2024
Bash would then query the vice president on a series of topics including her position on the war in Gaza, to which Harris echoed her comments from the Democratic National Convention, stating that “Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” while reiterating her belief that Israel has a right to defend itself and a return of the hostages right taken by Hamas: “We have to get a deal done.” The conversation soon turned to the attacks by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Harris’ racial identity including a remark that she “happened to turn Black” within the past few years. “Same old, tired playbook,” she replied. “Next question, please.”
Harris on Trump’s racist attacks: “Same old, tired playbook. Next question, please.” pic.twitter.com/WMyXzVRoI3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 30, 2024
Harris would also defend the Biden Administration’s record of the last three and a half years, highlighting the economic growth and the benefits of the infrastructure bill that was passed nationwide. “I’ll say that that’s good work,” she stated. “There’s more to do, but that’s good work.” She’d also go on to speak about her reaction to when President Joe Biden endorsed her to be the Democratic nominee.
This was a highlight of the CNN interview — when Biden told Kamala he’d endorse her, she was worried about his well-being more than her candidacy. She will be a gracious Madam President. pic.twitter.com/4prnzePAht
— 🪷 Madam Auntie VP Kamala Harris for PRESIDENT! (@flywithkamala) August 30, 2024
The reactions to the interview online praised the Vice President for her poise in handling the first major interview of her presidential campaign. New York Times opinion writer Michelle Cottle noted that in a reaction article, writing: “Amusingly, Bash looked more flustered than Harris did for most of the interview.” Others online noted how Harris clearly illustrated her potential policies as a future president.
Check out more online reactions to the interview below.
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2. Ketih Boykin
3. Trumps Taxes
4. Tre Easton
5. Portia J.
6. JJ Bittenbindr
7. Michaelangelo Signorile
8. Danielle Moodie
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sat down with CNN on Thursday (August 30) for the first major interview featuring the pair as they continue to hit the campaign trail. Vice President Kamala Harris was asked about Donald Trump’s recent attacks regarding her race, and she smoothly sidestepped the jabs before moving on.
Much has been made of Vice President Kamala Harris and her swift rise to the top of the Democratic Party ticket after President Joe Biden elected not to run for reelection Some pundits and observers felt that Harris and Walz alike have not put themselves in the view of journalists that will dig into their politics and campaign talking points.
CNN anchor Dana Bash lobbed questions that seemed tailored by Harris and Walz’s Republican Party opponents and critics, but they both gamely answered the questions without following any script or histrionics. Bash then asked Harris about Trump’s attacks regarding her race that he raised during this year’s NABJ conference when he said Harris “happened to turn Black” but the vice president didn’t take the bait.
Bash asked her about Trump’s statement but was met with a succinct reply as she elected not to answer the question or validate Trump’s ignorance any further.
“Same old tired playbook. Next question, please,” Harris said with a laugh. Bash pushed back by asking if that’s all she’d offer and the vice president left it there.
The Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz interview can be viewed on-demand via CNN and the network’s streaming platforms.
The clip below comes from Daniel Hampton.
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Photo: Getty
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will sit down with CNN this week for an exclusive joint interview. It is the first major interview for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, and will most likely serve as a showcase for their campaign, policies, and more.
As reported by Variety, Harris, and Walz recently appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week where the pair formally accepted their party’s nomination for president and vice president respectively. While their individual showings at the DNC were largely met with praise, several pundits have been clamoring to hear more about policies, the issue of the economy, the Israel-Hamas war, and other important issues.
On Thursday (August 29), the First Interview: Harris & Walz – A CNN Exclusive will air live on CNN along with CNN-connected television and mobile apps at 9 p.m. ET/PT. For those who missed that airing, the interview will be on-demand via CNN.com, CNN-connected television, and mobile apps, and across cable platforms.
View the CNN segment below regarding the upcoming interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz.
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Photo: Bill Clark / Getty
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Donald Trump’s promotion of a conspiracy theory claiming Vice President Kamala Harris used AI to fake her rally sizes in photos was thoroughly debunked on CNN.
Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump has been touting a new conspiracy theory claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris’ huge crowds at her recent campaign rallies and events were faked using artificial intelligence. However, that assertion was thoroughly debunked on air during a CNN segment on Sunday (August 11). The host, Fredericka Whitfield, began by stating that, “former President Trump is launching a new attack at Vice President Harris, claiming she faked a recent campaign photo.”
The photo, taken on August 7, showed Harris being greeted by a massive crowd on the tarmac at a Michigan airport while deplaning from Air Force Two.
“Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.‘d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!”, Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform afterward.
“If you’re looking for any more evidence that the size of these Harris campaign rallies are capturing Trump’s attention and getting under his skin, look no further than these posts that he’s putting out today, essentially lending voice to a conspiracy about the size of her rally in Detroit earlier this week,” said CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak in the segment.
“To back up his claim, he seems to be using a photo that a Harris campaign staffer posted from the event and trying to claim that there’s no reflection of the crowd on the exterior of the plane that it was somehow manipulated,” he added. “But we can say with certainty that his claims the crowd didn’t exist are just false.”
Liptak provided further detail on the scene.
“For starters, CNN was at the event and I’ve spoken to just one of the esteemed chief correspondents who was there. He told me that his team witnessed a crowd of many thousands that filled the large hangar where she was. There were two risers, the crowds spilled out onto a sprawling tarmac where Air Force Two and you see it there came to a stop to large risers.”
When contacted, the Harris-Walz campaign team said it was “an actual photo of a 15,000-person crowd for Harris-Walz in Michigan,” also jabbing Trump over his lack of campaign events in comparison: “Trump has still not campaigned in a swing state in over a week… Low energy?”
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Kent Nishimura / Getty / Roy Wood Jr.
While The Daily Show is out here rotating hosts, one of its former brightest stars, Roy Wood Jr., has finally gotten his own gig he doesn’t have to share.
Spotted on Variety, comedian Roy Wood Jr. will bring his flair for political comedy to CNN in hopes of helping the news network deliver the news with some laughs on Saturdays.
Republican nominee and disgraced former president Donald Trump supplies us with laughs it seems daily just from the dumb sh*t he says while trying to convince Americans, specifically Blacks, Latinos, and Caucasians who are not crazy and racist, to vote for him.
Now, we can look forward to Roy Wood Jr. taking those headlines made by Trump and his GOP cronies and whatever news Madame Vice President and hopefully future POTUS Kamala Harris make as we inch towards election day and making jokes out of them on the Have I Got News For You, the US version of the long-running BBC comedy series.
The show will kick off its 10-episode run on Saturday, September 14, at 9 p.m. Eastern on CNN. It will air regularly on the network before episodes make their way onto CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming app Max.
This Was A Long Time Coming For Roy Wood Jr.
Wood was a popular correspondent on The Daily Show and successfully hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2017.
He left The Daily Show in 2023, expressing frustrations as Comedy Central began a search for Trevor Noah’s replacement. Fans were also unhappy because they felt Wood would have been the perfect replacement.
He expressed with Variety that he felt late at night had run its course.
“I do not believe late-night as we know it will be the way we continue,” Wood told the website. “Budgets are changing, and we are going into the age of some people, demographically, who did not necessarily always grow up with late night. So how do you engage those people and bring those people to the art form?”
Big congrats are to Roy Wood Jr.; hopefully, everyone who has been hoping for him to get his own show will faithfully tune in.