Press pool

We have learned that the White House has removed CNN from the press pool covering President Trump's trip to Texas and Oklahoma today, escalating its ongoing dispute with that network.

A memo from the White House shared Sunday showed that CNN had been scheduled to travel with the president today, but the network was then left off the updated guidance that was published yesterday for today's Trump events.

The move comes a week after a federal judge blocked Trump's effort to ban CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House after the White House stopped CNN from flying on Air Force One during Trump's trip to Tennessee last weekend, despite the network having been scheduled to provide the pool coverage.

Now earlier this week, the three outlets asked a federal court to block the White House ban until the case is resolved, saying the administration has persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban despite a judge's restraining order, including selectively barring CNN from media duties.

The headline is the rule of law held.

This is a president of course who claims he's the most transparent in history.

That's obviously not the case.

I am told by a person familiar with the process there likely will not be a TV pool today, uh, at all, uh, because CNN, it was their turn, they're not being allowed to go.

So the press pool briefing room is built on top of the White House pool.

So there used to be an indoor pool.

Yeah.

Okay.

So today, you want to tell them what we're talking about?

We're talking about the White House press pool because they have been in the headlines a lot.

Yeah.

I don't know.

From the BBC, I'm Tristan Redmond in London, and today on The Global Story, how did press relations in the White House get so tense? And why curbs on journalistic freedom in Washington could be felt around the world.

[instrumental music] Now, as you may know, our very own Asma Khalid spent years reporting from the White House and serving as part of the so-called Press Pool, and she has a fascinating insight from behind the scenes on all of this.

I think it's enormously significant, and we all ought to be paying attention to it.

We're gonna be speaking with Asma a little bit later, but first we'll hear from Jason Rezaian of the Washington Post, who spent more than 500 days in jail for his journalism.

I think it's enormously significant, and we all ought to be paying attention to it as Americans and those who live beyond the borders of the United States.

And to me, it builds upon this escalation we've seen from the Trump administration since Donald Trump returned to the White House in this second term.

Uh, you might hear people sometimes refer to something known as the White House Press Pool, and I think it's-

Mm-hmm

I think this is something that even I, as somebody who's been covering politics for a while, don't, I don't even know that I have a complete grasp of exactly how it works.

Yeah, so the press pool exists to have essentially independent eyes on the President of the United States.

And because there are hundreds of people who cover the White House, and they can't fit in all of the spaces where the president might go, they can't fit in the motorcade, on Air Force One, or in the Oval Office, uh, a s- a pool system has been created where resources are pooled.

Um, and part of that pool is the print pool.

Because the other networks participated in, uh, basically a boycott of, of Donald Trump.

They said, "We're not gonna be a part of the press pool because you banned CNN, and CNN's part of the press pool." Uh, there was an event over at the White House yesterday where Trump was showing off his new helipad and, uh, rambling ab- about other things.

And- And because there was no, uh, network camera crew there, it didn't pick up the audio.

If we have a little bit of it, let's play that

Well, the White House is obligated to make sure that it is providing a broad range of access.

No one has a divine right to sit in the White House press pool, for example.

But the White House does have an obligation to make sure that it is making its communications available to a wide range of news outlets.

And what you heard about the press pool is really important.

Often when the president is traveling, he's traveling on Air Force One, there's a lot of room, or he's in private small meetings, we can't have hundreds of journalists attend those meetings.

It's important that we have these shared facilities where one news outlet with sufficient resources is able to cover for the rest and get that information.

Well, I think this is the important point.

freedom of expression has to exist for everybody, regardless of their viewpoints and regardless of the viewpoint of the government.