From the May 11 edition of CNN International’s CNN Newsroom:
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ISHA SESAY (HOST): To top it all off -- yes, Eric, there is more -- on Wednesday, President Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Yes, I am talking about the very same Sergey Kislyak who’s been at the center of allegations surrounding Trump campaign officials’ ties to Russia. There was no U.S. media admitted, but then an image of Lavrov and Trump emerged shaking hands, courtesy of the Russian media agency TASS. Why would the White House make such a decision, to leave U.S. media out in the cold, but let Russian media in, at least for some part of it, to capture images and to be present at all? What’s your read here?
ERIC BOEHLERT: This is just incredible. I mean, if there weren’t so many incredible things happening, if it were just this in a normal administration, this would be a shocking scandal. You don’t freeze out the American press from access to the Oval Office, and then allow Russia media -- or any international media, let alone Russia media which is at the center of this controversy in terms of the Russian government trying to hack our election last November. Look, this is just the latest, right? I was talking about that culture of intimidation. This is just the latest example of Trump’s war on the press. I mean, this is -- it’s just beyond. I mean, it’s just beyond what anyone probably could have imagined. And we’re only three months into this.
