THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2021 

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
John Berman

Dr. Anthony Fauci fielded multiple questions about his newly-released emails during a lengthy interview with John Berman this morning. It was one of two news-making moments with the CNN anchor to start out the news day.

Berman dived in on topics arising from the release of Fauci's emails, hitting on several hot topics.

He broached the subject of the NIAID director's involvement with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. He hit the very hot topic of masks as protection from Covid. He even got Fauci talking about and offering some praise for former President Donald Trump and Operation Warp Speed.

Next up, Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a second drug test, and Craig Robertson, the lawyer for owner Bob Baffert, joined Berman and New Day co-host Brianna Keilar, for what turned out to be a brutal and thorough interrogation.

The two put Robertson through the wringer. There were comparisons to Jose Canseco, there was indignance ... it was fire.

Two major interviews, both with newsmaking, even gripping outcomes. It was a great day for John Berman.

MEDIA LOSER:
Club for Growth

Club for Growth put out an ad on Wednesday going after CNN, hitting the network for not being tough on President Joe Biden and even mentioning the serious scandal surrounding Chris Cuomo.

The ad features a montage of people on CNN making positive and/or laudatory statements about the president, but it also includes emotional comments from correspondent Amara Walker: referring to remarks from Biden as being a "cathartic moment."

The clip doesn't include context and, significantly, the chyron is blanked out in the ad, but those were comments Walker made in response to the president rebuking anti-Asian attacks after the shootings in Atlanta.

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski called out the ad, saying, “This ad features an Asian-American correspondent getting emotional talking about the spa shootings but they erased the chyron and blurred out the spa name so people wouldn’t know that.”

The clumsy editing was obvious and stood out, making the cynical use of the moment all the worse.

Rather than serving as an indictment of the press, the video indicts the Club for Growth for a truly low blow.

The A-Block

Trump DOJ Reportedly Seized Phone Records of Four New York Times Reporters

You may remember that last month, reports revealed that the Trump Justice Department seized the phone records of journalists from the Washington Pot and CNN..

Now there’s new reporting phone records of four New York Times reporters were seized as well.

The Times broke news Wednesday night that the phone records of reporters Matt ApuzzoAdam GoldmanEric Lichtblau, and Michael Schmidt — from January to April 2017 — were seized by the DOJ in 2020.

"The Justice Department did not say which article was being investigated. But the lineup of reporters and the timing suggested that the leak investigation related to classified information reported in an April 22, 2017, article the four reporters wrote about how James B. Comey, then the F.B.I. director, handled politically charged investigations during the 2016 presidential election."

Times executive editor Dean Baquet has issued a statement...[read more]



In Other News...

Former CDC Director Robert Redfield Says He Received Death Threats From SCIENTISTS After Stating He Believes Wuhan Lab Leak Theory

No, David Spade is Not Really Replacing Chris Harrison as 'Bachelor in Paradise' Host

Stanford Law Caves After Blocking Student From Graduating Because He Mocked Josh Hawley and Federalist Society Over Capitol Attack

HOWE: Ellie Kemper. Tim Scott. Rush Limbaugh. Ben Shapiro. Relieved Denzel. Twitter's Trending Topics Are Toxic.

Must See Clip

‘Medical Jim Crow’

MSNBC’s Joy Reid thoroughly mocked Fox News’ Tucker Carlson for his complaining that it’s “medical Jim Crow” for businesses to require people to be vaccinated.

During his Tuesday night show, Carlson went on a tangent about how businesses are “enforcing segregation” by requiring patrons to be vaccinated from the coronavirus. Reid, who sparred with Carlson in the past after he condescendingly referred to her as “the race lady,” responded with a very mocking “Absolute Worst” segment Wednesday on The ReidOut.

“Nurse, can you please get in here? We have another case of VSE: victim status envy” Reid sarcastically called out. It got even better from there.

Links We Like

How Fact-Checkers Mishandled the COVID-19 Origin Debate
- John Hirschauer & Chandler Lasch, RealClearPolitics
The Capitol Rioters Won
- Adam Serwer, The Atlantic
Fixing Medical Devices That Are Biased against Race or Gender
- Claudia Wallis, Scientific American
Interview: Martha Nussbaum on #MeToo
- Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker
THREAD: My Months-Long @VanityFair Investigation On #Covid19 Origins
Katherine Eban, Twitter
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