Judge Sides with CNN in Dispute Over White House Access
*By Carlo Versano*
A federal judge made a limited ruling Friday that the White House must immediately restore press access to CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on Fifth Amendment grounds.
Federal Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by President Trump, granted CNN's request for a temporary restraining order, which will allow Acosta to re-join the White House press corps, at least temporarily. Kelly did not issue a formal ruling on the case, which is expected to come after more hearings.
"This case is not over," Joe Concha, a media reporter for The Hill, told Cheddar Friday.
Judge Kelly did not make a decision one way or another on Acosta's First Amendment right to White House access. Rather, his ruling was based on the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The White House responded to the ruling in a statement that interpreted Kelly's decision to bypass the First Amendment issue as a win.
“Today, the court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House. In response to the court, we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass. We will also further develop rules and processes to ensure fair and orderly press conferences in the future."
"There must be decorum at the White House," the statement added.
President Trump expanded in an impromptu Q&A with reporters:
"We want total freedom of the press. It's more important to me than anybody would believe. But you have to act with respect when you're at the White House, and when I see the way some of my people get treated at news conferences, it's terrible.
The White House yanked Acosta's press pass following a series of back-and-forths between President Trump and the reporter that culminated in an explosive exchange at a press conference the day after the midterm elections.
At first, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they pulled Acosta's pass because he had placed his hands on a White House intern who had attempted to take the microphone out of his hands. After that argument was challenged by Acosta's defenders, the White House's position evolved into a broader complaint about the reporter's overall behavior at press briefings.
Concha told Cheddar that eliminating the live feed of the daily briefing (which has become more of a weekly or biweekly briefing, of late), might limit grandstanding from both reporters and Trump Administration officials at the podium and cut down on confrontations.
That type of broader reform, however, appears unlikely. And with Acosta allowed back into the White House, Concha said the press office is likely to simply "box him out" of asking questions.
"I don't think this is going to change anything," Concha said of the ruling.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/whats-next-in-the-cnn-trump-saga).
As half a million Ukrainians fled when Russia invaded its neighbor, some civilians chose to stay in harm's way. Igor Gamaniuk, a 17-year-old Ukrainian college student, joined Cheddar News to talk about his decision to remain in his beloved country and volunteer to support soldiers with food, clothing, and supplies. "Right now people are pretty calm in my town. We are trying not to panic. But we have to be cautious because every day and every night the siren could sound and we have to move away from the window or go to the nearest shelter," Gamaniuk explained.
As Russia continues to invade Ukraine, its tech outsourcing sector is at risk. Over the past few years, the country has become a popular outsourcing destination for American and European tech companies, but now the future of that industry is uncertain. Isabelle Bousquette, enterprise technology reporter, for The Wall Street Journal, discusses what repercussions the crisis might have on the industry, and what companies are doing to mitigate possible disruptions.
In a nearly 3,700 page UN report, climate scientists outline the imminent dangers caused by climate change, saying fossil fuels are 'choking humanity.' The report calls some of the impacts of global warming 'irreversible,' warning of extreme consequences in the near future. Kristie L. Ebi, Professor of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union, pleading with the bloc to accept this request. It comes as Russian forces push further into Ukraine, forcing at least half a million refugees to flee. Benjamin Schmitt, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, breaks down the latest in Ukraine.
A growing wave of major U.S. companies have taken steps to cut ties with Russia or offer support to Ukraine, as tensions escalate in the region. Exxon, Apple and Boeing are just the latest companies to make the move, following the likes of Google, Meta and BP who have all announced plans to exit the region in response to the conflict. Courtney Vinopal, Breaking News Reporter, Quartz joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
A hospital basement in Ukraine’s coastal city of Mariupol has transformed into a bomb shelter and maternity ward amid shelling during Russia’s invasion.
World leaders are currently dealing with a handful of pressing issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic; but it could be argued that the most pressing issue is one that has experienced its fair share of neglect in the past -- climate change. As tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine, there is fear the focus on climate will once again be pushed aside. However, the White House appears to be making some effort to prevent that from happening. The White House Office of Science and Technology held a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion with some of the nation's leading climate scientists on Thursday. Michael Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and author of the book 'The New Climate War' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as one of the climate scientists at the White House event.
Scott Clemons, Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the factors leading to the sell-off on Wall Street today and explains why uncertainty is worse than bad news for the investors.
U.S. stocks rebounded to end higher on Thursday after President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia following the country's attack on Ukraine. The Dow was down 859 points at its lowest point of the session, before ultimately finishing the day in the green. Melissa Armo, founder and owner of the Stock Swoosh, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
