CNN says its reporters were barred from joining press pool on Air Force One

CNN reported that the White House informed the press on Friday that the network would no longer serve as the television pooler accompanying President Trump on Air Force One for his Saturday trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, to cover a college football event. The outlet said its journalists had been scheduled to board Air Force One to provide shared video to other networks when space is limited. The White House note did not identify another broadcaster to take CNN’s place. CNN and press organizations warned that without a designated TV pooler, there would be no pooled television coverage of the president’s visit, limiting the mechanism that allows networks to share video of presidential appearances. The move follows a broader access dispute earlier in the week in which the administration attempted to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. A federal judge ordered the restoration of press credentials for those outlets, finding that the initial suspension likely violated their procedural due process rights. On Thursday, reporters were initially denied entry to the White House grounds before being admitted later in the day. Journalists from MS NOW and CNN also reported being blocked from a precredentialed event—the state dinner arrival during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. The dispute prompted CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox News to boycott the White House TV pool in solidarity with CNN; although the judge’s ruling came on Thursday, those networks did not resume pool participation until the following day, saying they wanted assurance the White House would comply with the court’s decision regarding television coverage.