‘Do you believe in free speech or not?’: CNN anchor clashes with GOP panelists over Kimmel
CNN anchor Abby Phillip clashed with her GOP colleagues on Wednesday over the decision to suspend "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on network television.
Phillip discussed the move with former Republican Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker and GOP strategist Scott Jennings. It occurred just hours after Nexstar Media Group, which owns several local ABC affiliates, announced that it is suspending Kimmel's show "indefinitely" because of comments the comedian made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk's slaying.
Phillip questioned the timeline of Kimmel's suspension and the involvement of FCC chairman Brendan Carr in the deal. On Tuesday, Carr gave a threatening interview with MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson, where he claimed that the FCC would be taking active measures to ensure broadcast companies abide by the public interest standard.
Within 24 hours, Kimmel was pulled off the air, Phillip noted.
"Nexstar has a very clear financial interest in not getting on the wrong side of that guy," Phillip said to Walker, talking about Carr. "You don't see the problem with that?"
Both Walker and Jennings argued that Nexstar was making a "business decision" by taking Kimmel off the air.
"Do you believe in free speech or not?" Phillip asked pointedly.
"I do, but you can't expect us to sit with our hands tied behind our backs," Walker said.
Mitch McConnell shares major health update amid speculation
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) shared new details about his health on Thursday after weeks of speculation.
"Earlier today, I was discharged from the rehabilitation center to continue my recovery at home," McConnell said in a statement.
He thanked his friends, supporters, colleagues and constituents, along with the doctors, nurses, therapists and staff.
"On the advice of my doctors, I'll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I'll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business," the statement said.
McConnell has not disclosed when he plans to return to Congress.
Trump ditched cabinet secretaries as ‘sacrificial lambs’ on decoy plane: NYT
President Donald Trump left his cabinet secretaries and top advisers on a plane threatened by Iran while he moved to safety, The New York Times reported.
Air Force One was targeted by Iran as he left a NATO summit in Turkey, but reports are surfacing that Trump switched planes by hiding in a catering cart. However, the latest reporting by The Times reveals Trump also ditched Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and traveling press, who were "kept in the dark."
Two anonymous officials told Times reporter Maggie Haberman that Stephen Miller, Trump's top domestic policy adviser, and Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, were also left on the threatened decoy plane. Trump meanwhile left Ankara, Turkey, aboard a C-32A military jet.
According to Haberman's reporting, Rubio knew about the threat from Iran and that he was traveling on a plane that had been targeted for an attack. However, it's unclear if other top White House officials knew about the threat too.
The anonymous officials who spoke with Haberman said that at least some of the White House staff who also left on the endangered plane were unaware of the threat.
A White House spokesman didn't respond to a request from The Times for comment about the discussion to decide who would be left on the threatened plane and who would be whisked to safety with Trump.
The New York Times's reporting did, however, include a comment from Andrew Marlowe, the Hollywood screenwriter of the 1997 Harrison Ford thriller "Air Force One."
Marlowe told The Times that even though the Secret Service was trying to keep Trump safe, the optics of the reporting that has been coming out don't make him look good.
"Now real life isn't a movie, but given the circumstances, I'm not sure I could ever script a moment like that for a heroic main character," Marlowe said. "If the threat were that great, it's hard to imagine the audience rooting for any character who would trade his own safety by treating the remaining civilians onboard as potential sacrificial lambs, especially without their informed consent."
