CNN expunged "don't ask, don't tell" question and answers in rebroadcasts of debate

mediamatters.org ^ | Nov. 29, 2007

[AuntB]

Summary: Rebroadcasts of the CNN/YouTube debate for Republican presidential candidates omitted a question from a retired brigadier general about the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, as well as the candidates' answers to the question. CNN did not note the omission.

In rebroadcasts of the November 28 CNN/YouTube debate for Republican presidential candidates, CNN expunged, without disclosure, a segment in which retired Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr asked the candidates to address "why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians." Kerr is a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Americans for Hillary Clinton steering committee and a co-chairman of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) Veterans and Military Retirees for Hillary Committee. In rebroadcasts of the debate at midnight ET and 3 a.m. ET on November 29, CNN omitted the Kerr question, as well as the candidates' answers to his question.

University of Southern California professor Marty Kaplan noted the omission in a blog entry on The Huffington Post, writing:

MORNING AFTER PILL UPDATE V: When CNN rebroadcast the debate, according to commenter AdamDek, the don't-ask-don't-tell question from Brig. Gen. (ret.) Keith Kerr was edited out of the program. Gone! Just like that.

In a statement published in a November 29 post on CNN's Political Ticker blog, CNN senior vice president David Bohrman, the executive producer of the debate, apologized for selecting Kerr's question, given his campaign affiliation: "We regret this, and apologize to the Republican candidates. We never would have used the General's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."

On the November 29 edition of American Morning, co-host John Roberts interviewed Kerr and asked, "Now, did anyone from Hillary Clinton's campaign or from the steering committee or anyone else associated with a political organization put you up to the idea of asking this question?" Kerr responded: "Absolutely not. This was a private initiative on my own."

From the November 29 edition of CNN's American Morning:

ROBERTS: There were questions this morning about one of last night's questioners. It turns out that a retired general had links to the Clinton campaign. Here's his question, as submitted on YouTube.

KERR [video clip]: My name is Keith Kerr, of Santa Rosa, California. I'm a retired brigadier general with 43 years of service. And I'm a graduate of the Special Forces Officer Course, the Command and General Staff Course, and the Army War College, and I'm an openly gay man. I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.

ROBERTS: So there's the question, and retired Army Brigadier General Keith Kerr joins me now this morning. We discovered after the debate last night that you are, in fact, a member of Hillary Clinton's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered steering committee. We did not -- we did a background check, and we found that you have not made any campaign contributions to any candidate. Does that still stand?

KERR: That's correct.

ROBERTS: OK. Well, let me ask you about your position on this steering committee. What does that entail, and have you, in fact, done any work for Hillary Clinton's campaign?

KERR: I have not done any work. Several friends asked me if I would allow my name to be listed, and I agreed because she is such a strong advocate of gay and lesbian rights.

ROBERTS: So this really hasn't required anything on your part other than lending your name to it?

KERR: Correct.

ROBERTS: Now, did anyone from Hillary Clinton's campaign or from the steering committee or anyone else associated with a political organization put you up to the idea of asking this question?

KERR: Absolutely not. This was a private initiative on my own.

From the original airing of the November 28 CNN/YouTube Republican presidential candidates debate:

KERR: My name is Keith Kerr, of Santa Rosa, California. I'm a retired brigadier general with 43 years of service. And I'm a graduate of the Special Forces Officer Course, the Command and General Staff Course, and the Army War College, and I'm an openly gay man. I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.

COOPER: I want to point out that Brigadier General Keith Kerr is here with us tonight. Glad you're here. Again, the question to Congressman [Duncan] Hunter [CA].

HUNTER: Yeah. General, thanks for your service, but I believe in what [former Secretary of State and retired Army Gen.] Colin Powell said when he said that having openly homosexual people serving in the ranks would be bad for unit cohesion. And the reason for that, even though people point to the Israelis and point to the Brits and point to other people as having homosexuals serve, is that most Americans, most kids who leave that breakfast table and go out and serve in the military and make that corporate decision with their family, most of them are conservatives. And they have conservative values, and they have Judeo-Christian values. And to force those people to work in a small, tight unit with somebody who is openly homosexual, who goes against what they believe to be their principles -- and it is their principles -- is I think a disservice to them. And I agree with Colin Powell that it would be bad for unit cohesion.

COOPER: I want to direct this to [former Arkansas] Governor [Mike] Huckabee. Thirty seconds.

HUCKABEE: The Uniform Code of Military Justice is probably the best rule, and it has to do with conduct. People have a right to have whatever feelings, whatever attitudes they wish, but when their conduct could put at risk the morale, or put at risk even the cohesion that Duncan Hunter spoke of, I think that's what is at issue. And that's why our policy is what it is.

COOPER: [Former Massachusetts] Governor [Mitt] Romney, you said in 1994 that you looked forward to the day when gays and lesbians could serve, and I quote, "openly and honestly in our nation's military." Do you stand by that?

ROMNEY: This isn't that time. This is not that time. We're in the middle of a war. The people who have watched --

COOPER: Do you look forward to that time, though, one day?

ROMNEY: I'm going to listen to the people who run the military to see what the circumstances are like, and my view is that, at this stage, this is not the time for us to make that kind of a change.

COOPER: Is that a change in your position from --

ROMNEY: Yeah, I didn't think it would work. I didn't think "don't ask, don't tell" would work. That was my -- I didn't think that would work. I thought that was a policy -- when I heard about it, I laughed. I said, "That doesn't make any sense to me." And you know what? It's been there now for, what, 15 years? It seems to have worked.

COOPER: So, just so I'm clear, at this point, do you still look forward to a day when gays can serve openly in the military or no longer?

ROMNEY: I look forward to hearing from the military exactly what they believe is the right way to have the right kind of cohesion and support in our troops, and I'll listen to what they have to say.

COOPER: All right. General Kerr is -- as I said, is here. Please stand up, General. Thank you very much for being with us. Did you feel you got an answer to your question?

KERR: With all due respect, I did not get an answer from the candidates.

COOPER: What do you -- what do you feel you did not --

KERR: American men and women in the military are professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians. For 42 years, I wore the Army uniform on active duty, in the Reserve, and also for the state of California. I revealed I was a gay man after I retired. Today, "don't ask, don't tell" is destructive to our military policy. Every day, the Department of Defense discharges two people, not for misconduct, not for the unit cohesion --

COOPER: Wait, the mike is -- you've lost -- is the microphone not working? All right. Please, just finish your -- what is your question?

KERR: Not for the unit cohesion that Congressman Hunter is talking about, but simply because they happen to be gay.

COOPER: OK. Senator [John] McCain [AZ].

KERR: And we're talking about doctors, nurses, pilots, and the surgeon who sews somebody up when they're taken from the battlefield.

COOPER: I appreciate your comment. Senator McCain, I want to give you 30 seconds. You served in the military.

McCAIN: General, I thank you for your service to our nation. I respect it. All the time, I talk to our military leaders, beginning with our joint chiefs of staff and the leaders in the field, such as General [David] Petraeus and General [Raymond] Odierno and others who are designated leaders with the responsibility of the safety of the men and women under their command and their security and protect them as best they can. Almost unanimously, they tell me that this present policy is working, that we have the best military in history, that we have the bravest, most professional, best prepared, and that this policy ought to be continued because it's working.

[Miss Didi]

Raw Video: Clinton Supporter at GOP Debate

[MizSterious]

I agree—incompetent conspiring. For so many years, they never had to be particularly clever: news reporting and events like these were just put out there, and the public had no other source of info. Since the advent of the pajama brigades, all that’s changed, and the libs are really slow learners.

[AliVeritas]

Love that topiary update:

http://wizbangblog.com/content/2007/11/30/whoops-there-goes-another-democratic-plant.php

As you guys know, Kerr was on CNN before on the same subject... no excuses. Worked for Kerry as well.

So much for undecided Republican voters.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

“This was a REPUBLICAN DEBATE!!!!”

I agree. Was that the intent of the debate, undecided republicans or independents asking questions?

[sono]

Best quote from Advertising Age:
“CNN seems intent on finding its few remaining Republican voters and driving them into the arms of Fox News.”

[DancesWithBolsheviks]

I also saw the downloaded version from CNN and wondered why I didn’t see what everyone else was talking about - it was laying in the bit bucket.

[MSF BU]

I know that while running against Edward Kennedy he stated that he thought the Boy Scouts should be working toward accepting homosexual scoutmasters. I have seen him speak favorably about forcing homosexuality into the military.

[Rockitz]

CNN is mortified at the prospect of Duncan Hunter as the GOP nominee. He’s the only candidate who can take all of the Reagan democrats back and he’s been on topic from the beginning in addressing the biggest issues in this campaign- illegal immigration, unfair trade, and the war on terror.

[Miss Didi]

There was a video on the CNN site yesterday where John Roberts interviews the general. The video is long gone now, however, I did find this report:

Roberts didn’t press Kerr further on that matter, and asked the retired general if he ever thought about disclosing these campaign affiliations. He answered, “No, it never concerned me, because I had not really participated in that,” and then went on to say that he had supported some Republicans, and was registered as an independent in California.



CNN’s ‘American Morning’ Omits Revelation that Gay General Was ‘Activist’

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

If CNN finds it so easy to expunge the truth, I think that it’s time that I expunge CNN.

Radio, television, cable and satellite.

All of it.

All the time.

[Miss Didi]

RUSH: CNN YOU STINK!

[AuntB]

Lou Dobbs is the only thing worth watching on CNN. He doesn’t follow their PC guidelines. In fact, a few years ago, Dobbs quit, walked out during a broadcast because of them interrupting him with some Clinton ‘non news’. They begged him back under the condition that he runs his program, not CNN.

[potlatch]

 HILLARY GROOMS HER PLANTS

 

Thank you for the ping.

[AuntB]

You are SO clever!

[potlatch]

Thank you Aunt, I appreciate that!

[Albion Wilde]

Ping!

[Blue Highway]

You forgot the Muslim woman (CAIR plant) from alabama wearing the head covering, that was found to be a supporter of edwards or Obama, another one uncovered by Malkin!

[Blue Highway]

Haha, glad Duncan stuck it to them. Hope this will give him some more positive publicity to get him to the top tier and send rudy and romney scared for their campaign.

[Kevmo]

CNN has quickly gone off into the weeds in terms of their credibility on this election.

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Why the smart money is on Duncan Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926032/posts
Posted on 11/15/2007 3:43:17 AM PST by Kevmo

[firebrand]

You are right. Sly tactics often turn around to bite the perpetrator.