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).
The U.S. is back in negotiations for a nuclear deal with Iran, years after former President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which had been meant to curtail the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear ambitions. Former State Department senior advisor to the George W. Bush and Trump administrations, Christian Whiton, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss. “It appears to be very similar to the original JCPOA, which does put some constraints on Iran's nuclear program, but also has sunset provisions, including some that in the original plan were expected to take effect in 2025," he said. "And so, if we just reenter that plan, really it just buys perhaps a few years of slowing down, stopping, whatever you want to say, Iran's nuclear program."
The U.S. has announced the first of what could be multiple levels of sanctions against Russia after Moscow recognized two regions of Ukraine as independent. This comes as Britain imposes sanctions on five Russian banks and two oligarchs, and Germany freezes the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Terrell Star, a foreign affairs reporter at The Atlantic Council, joins from Kyiv to discuss.
Growing tensions in Ukraine might soon be impacting consumers in the United States. With Russia on an invasion footing in the region, gas prices are predicted to go up 10 to 15 cents a gallon in the next coming weeks, according to Robert Sinclair, spokesperson for AAA. Sinclair joined Cheddar to break down what could happen even further. "We've been seeing prices go up, and there's been nothing that's happened to affect supplies," he said. "But it's something known as the fear tax where just the talk of something that might interfere with supplies leads to prices going up speculatively."
The end of 3G is upon us. On Tuesday, AT&T became the first major provider to disable its 3G services, and T-Mobile and Verizon plan to follow suit later this year. The shutdowns are expected to impact millions of vehicles that use 3G networks for updates, remote connection, and certain emergency and convenience features. Lance Ulanoff, the U.S. Editor-in-Chief of TechRadar, joined Cheddar's Closing Bell to discuss the ramifications of the changeover.
A new report shows nearly 240 former officials in Congress, the White House, and regulatory agencies have changed careers to work in the crypto industry.
President Biden unveiled new economic sanctions on Russia for what he called "the beginning of a Russian invasion". This came one day after Putin sent troops into two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. Alex Ward, national security reporter for POLITICO, explains what these sanctions might do to the global economy.
U.S. stocks ended today's session sharply lower on the heels of rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Melissa Brown, Managing Director of Applied Research at Qontigo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. will begin to impose sanctions on Russia, calling recent troop movement into Ukraine an 'invasion.' Biden and other government officials including from the State Department have begun to classify the Russian troop movement as an invasion after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to two independent Ukrainian areas in an alleged "peacekeeping" mission — which the West considers an act of aggression. Biden said Russia will continue to pay 'an even steeper price' if it continues sending troops into Ukraine. What happens next? Will Putin find a way around these sanctions? Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joins Closing Bell to discuss Biden's remarks, how the West will protect Ukraine since it doesn't belong to NATO, and more.
