All posts tagged "brianna keilar"

'Fail': CNN cracks up at nuclear expert's brutal takedown of Trump's big plan for the moon

CNN's Brianna Keilar introduced nuclear policy analyst Joe Cirincione to discuss the Trump administration's big plans to put a nuclear reactor on the moon.

She mentioned Cirincione's book, "Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the world before it is too late," before segueing into the subject at hand.

"Speaking of nuclear nightmares, last we spoke to you, it was about nuclear wasps, radioactive wasps," Keilar said. "Now we're talking about a nuclear reactor on the moon, which raises some safety concerns."

"Well, if the purpose of this announcement was to distract attention from the Epstein files, it briefly succeeded," Cirincione quipped as Keilar and co-host Boris Sanchez cracked up. "Sean Duffy was trending on social media for the last 24 hours right behind Ghislaine Maxwell."

He continued, "But if it's to propose a serious plan for the human colonization of Mars, I think it fails the test."

Cirincione said that a small, modular, launchable nuclear reactor has been in the cards for a while, but Duffy's announcement "actually resets the timeline that NASA set just five years ago of being able to have a nuclear reactor ready to launch by 2026," Cirincione said.

"Now, he's proposing 2030 for a bigger reactor, about 10 times the size of the one that was originally proposed several years ago. I just don't see the technology available. I don't think we're going to be able to make this technological leap, but we are certainly going to spend billions of dollars trying to do so, probably at the at the expense of other vital NASA missions."

Cirincione said that such a mission would "require a launch vehicle that doesn't yet exist, require a reactor that doesn't yet exist, and pose some serious safety hazards themselves, like the risk of failure of the system, the explosion of the system, or another launch failure as they try to put this in orbit and then onto the moon. I don't think the risks are worth it," Crincione said.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'Foolish': Congress dressed down for giving a 'garbage human being' leverage over them

Former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori did not mince words Tuesday on CNN when asked about Ghislane Maxwell's demands for immunity before she considers testifying on Capitol Hill.

Maxwell, who was the girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, is serving 20 years in federal prison for sex trafficking.

In a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY), Maxwell's attorneys wrote that their client would invoke her Fifth Amendment rights to remain silent unless they complied with her demands.

"I have to say to the folks in Congress who helped to create this — this is what happens when you give a criminal — an all-around garbage human being — leverage over you," Khardori told CNN's Brianna Keilar.

"They start creating lists of demands that make you look foolish if you accede to them; they should never have gone down this path. The Justice Department should not be working with her. She has no credibility. She's in prison for 20 years on heinous charges, and she has a whole host of incentives to lie or shade the truth. If I were still in government, I would not trust this woman and I would not touch her with a 10-foot pole."

Keilar asked why Khardori called Maxwell "garbage."

"Because what she did was heinous and awful, and she traumatized many, many young women, and they're going to live with that trauma for the rest of their lives."

Khardori continued, "One of the particularly offensive elements of the Justice Department entertaining this — Republicans in Congress entertaining this — is that she has victims, and those victims have to watch all of this unfold and have to watch them pretending like this woman has some credibility and potentially some information that may be valuable."

President Donald Trump has not ruled out pardoning Maxwell. He has called questions about his association with Epstein, a convicted sex trafficker, a "hoax" and a "scam" perpetuated by Democrats.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

GOP lawmaker immediately fact-checked on CNN after 'celebrating' Trump's honesty

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) praised Donald Trump for his "transparency" after the White House disclosed the president has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition that causes blood to pool in the veins.

"I think he's been the most transparent president we've ever had," Fine said Thursday on CNN. "You talked about the health conditions -- we had to have Joe Biden's doctor take the Fifth Amendment last week over their lack of transparency."

Host Brianna Keilar asked if Fine was concerned about the president's diagnosis.

"No, I think the president is, you know, a man in his 70s. He's going to have the kinds of conditions that people of that age do. But what I appreciate is the fact that, again, they are being transparent about them."

Fine continued, "I mean, Joe Biden tried to tell us for years there was nothing wrong with his brain when it was obvious there was something to the point that his doctor had to take the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination of a crime last week. He's basically admitting they committed crimes and covering up Joe Biden's health conditions. So, I think we should all celebrate the fact that Donald Trump is willing to tell us what's going on."

Keilar interjected, "I do just want to note that this disclosure came after his ankles were visibly swollen, and we could see makeup on his hand covering up a bruise, which they say is because of an aspirin regimen and a lot of hand shaking," Keilar said.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'More than meets the eye': Doctor casts doubt on Trump’s ‘benign’ diagnosis

A day after the most recent speculation about President Donald Trump's bruised hand and swollen ankles, the White House offered up his doctor's diagnosis: chronic venous insufficiency, which causes blood to pool in the veins.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the condition as "benign" and claimed, "The president remains in excellent health," but CNN's Brianna Keilar didn't take the diagnosis at face value.

She asked a medical expert how the president's age, lack of cardiovascular activity, and other lifestyle factors could worsen the diagnosis.

"So, it appears that the White House physicians were also concerned about more than meets the eye," said cardiologist Dr. Bernard Ashby, before mentioning the additional tests performed by Trump's doctors, including an echocardiogram and lower extremity ultrasounds.

"Essentially, they were covering all their bases, meaning that they were screening him for heart failure, which is a common cause of lower extremity swelling. In addition to that, they were concerned with increased pressure in his heart."

"Now, taking a step back, looking at the entire case, the president is obese. He is older. And I don't know if he has hypertension, but that's very...common in his age group, particularly with his body habitus. So, when you do have a condition like lower extremity swelling, bilateral, and a diagnosis of venous insufficiency, the question is, is it intrinsic to the veins? Meaning, does the venous insufficiency that he has, is it related to bad valves, or is it related to increased pressure coming from the heart?"

Ashby continued, "Even though he's diagnosed with a benign condition, venous insufficiency by itself doesn't necessarily mean it's benign. The question is, what's causing the venous insufficiency? But I wouldn't take the benign diagnosis on its face."

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'Excuse me?' Ex-Trump official snaps as CNN host levels false claim to his face

CNN's Brianna Keilar pushed back hard Tuesday on a former Trump official's claim that President Donald Trump had to make a new "policy call" by allowing some undocumented migrants a "temporary pass" to remain in the United States to fill certain jobs.

Keilar asked Chad Wolf, Acting Homeland Security secretary during the first Trump administration, "Is that just an admission that the American economy relies on labor from undocumented immigrants, and that they need work visas even if they're here illegally? Even if you are putting them in the same category as criminals who are here illegally?"

Wolf said the president had to weigh "all these different considerations" to keep the workforce at capacity.

"But that's not new, right, Mr. Wolf? Has he been failed by his advisors if he's only learning now what policymakers, including Republicans, have known for decades — that undocumented immigrants are essential to the U.S. economy?"

Wolf answered, "If you look at four years of the Biden administration, you'll see absolutely no one removed, right? Which is why we're in the crisis that we're in today."

"That's not true and you know that," Keilar interjected. "You're saying no one was removed in four years?"

"Excuse me? I really don't think you understand what you're talking about here at all," Wolf snapped.

"You're saying no one was removed in four years, period," Keilar asked again. "Just be clear. Explain what you're saying — no one was removed under the Biden administration from the United States who was undocumented?"

"The vast majority of removals from the Biden administration happened at the border. They were removing almost no one from the interior of the country," Wolf said, adding that's the main reason the American people voted for a second Trump administration.

Wolf continued, "They're not going to exempt all individuals from the law, right? So, if you say we're only going to remove criminal aliens and that's it, we're going to stop. Well, then, you invite a whole class of individuals to come into the country and not to offend and say, well, you're not going to be removed."

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'Better shoot straight!' House Dem grilled after 'yelling' at troops in LA

CNN's Brianna Keilar challenged Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) on Wednesday about her actions toward the National Guard outside the Los Angeles Detention Center this week.

Waters was denied entry into the federal building by the National Guard when she tried to check on David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union, who was arrested by ICE during the anti-deportation protests.

Afterwards, Waters posted to social media, “Today, I came to the Metropolitan Detention Center to exercise my constitutional rights as a Member of Congress to check on the safety and conditions of SEIU California President David Huerta, who was arrested by ICE. I pled with the National Guard, which was heavily armed, not to use their weapons against peaceful demonstrators who were simply exercising their rights to freedom of speech and protest."

Keilar played a video of Waters shouting at the troops, "What are you gonna do? You gonna shoot some kid who's afraid of you and runs? You gonna shoot an elected official? If you shoot me, you better shoot straight."

Keilar asked if "yelling at them was the right way to show" concern over what could happen with armed service members in the streets.

"What I was really trying to do was to get the attention to the seriousness of what was going on," Waters answered. "And, so I thought, as an elected official, if I talk about, so that it would be in earshot of all the media and everybody else that was there and people were listening, that we were raising concerns about armed guards being in Los Angeles and what they are ordered to do."

Keilar then asked, "I think many people share your concerns that this is a dangerous situation in Los Angeles. Would you want your constituents and other Angelenos to be yelling at guardsmen like that?"

Waters took issue with Keilar's assertion that she was "yelling" at the guardsmen.

"It is not a matter of yelling; it's projecting so that you will be heard," Waters answered.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'That's my question!' CNN host frustrated as guest rattles off GOP soundbites

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar pressed Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) over the issue of a proposed a Medicaid work requirement as Republican lawmakers consider making cuts to pay for President Donald Trump's mega spending bill.

Trump met with Republicans on Capitol Hill Tuesday to motivate them to iron out their differences over the bill since he can only afford to lose three GOP votes in order to pass it.

Keilar noted that almost 140,000 of Patronis's constituents received Medicaid, which worked out to "roughly one out of every six people."

She asked if any of them would "lose Medicaid coverage" if the new work requirement for "able-bodied" people went into effect before 2029, as the congressman preferred. And she asked for clarification on who constituted an "able-bodied" person.

"For example, should a young adult male in your district who is in the throes of addiction be expected to meet those requirements while in rehab?" Keilar asked.

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"Right now, a young adult male in the state of Florida is not eligible for Medicaid unless he's disabled or has some other type of disability that's given that pathway," Patronis answered.

"Well, I'm asking if he should be eligible, facing a medical issue like that," Keilar said.

"So, that individual does not have access to expanded guaranteed Medicaid health benefits if he's an able-bodied male, because it's not part of Florida's acceptance into that program," Patronis answered.

Keilar then asked about the nation as a whole, not just Florida.

Patronis said, "When you've got able-bodied males that have the ability to go out and seek employment in order to maybe secure health insurance to the private sector, that frees up dollars for disabled, for elderly, for women. So again —"

Keilar interrupted, "Is that person abled-bodied, though? Sir, that's my question! But, congressman, that's my question. Is that an able-bodied person, someone who is in rehab dealing with addiction?"

After a lengthy debate, Patronis concluded, "I definitely want to make sure that the elderly or seniors are women or children — that they always have a robust safety net that always takes care of them. That is the purpose of Medicaid."

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'Miscarriage of justice': Family 'devastated' after ex-officers acquitted in beating death

The family of Tyre Nichols is speaking out through their attorney following the acquittal of three former Memphis police officers on state charges that they beat the 29-year-old to death.

CNN's Brianna Keilar read the statement from the Nichols family's legal team.

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"It says, quote, 'Today's verdicts are a devastating miscarriage of justice. The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve. That brutal, inhumane assault was captured on video, yet the officers responsible were acquitted. Tyree's life was stolen and his family was denied the justice they so deeply deserve. We are outraged and we know we are not alone."

Keilar said the defendants "were found not guilty of second-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. They do still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges last year."

Two other officers agreed to plead guilty to the state charges.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'Who buys a Rolex?' CNN host gobsmacked by out-of-touch tariff argument

CNN's Brianna Keilar was taken aback during a discussion on the Trump tariffs after "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary brought up the price of Rolex watches, which start at about $6,400.

"Rolex just this hour raised their prices — and everybody in the U.S. knows what a Rolex watch is — by 3% to offset the tariff imposed on Switzerland, even though there is no trading imbalance with Switzerland," O'Leary said, as Keilar interrupted him.

"OK, Kevin, so I'm going to stop you. Everyone knows about Rolex, but like, who buys a Rolex? I mean, a lot of people do not buy a Rolex watch, right? So, let me ask you this, because you say they should wait until you see the trade deals —"

"Well, hold on, there," O'Leary interjected to assert that Americans do, in fact, buy Rolexes.

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"I know, but if they didn't have a Rolex watch, like, they're not going to go hungry, OK? So, this is my point, right? Hopefully, they're not going to disappoint their child at Christmas. Hopefully, their child is grown, I guess, if they're buying them a Rolex."

Keilar then asked O'Leary about President Donald Trump's "two dolls instead of 30" comment.

"Is that good messaging?" she asked.

"It's tough love, there's no question about it. And, yes, it didn't go over that well. I agree with you. That's tough to tell children. Less toys under the tree at Christmas. That's tough, I get it," O'Leary said.

"But, it's not just toys, right, Kevin? I mean, it's not just about toys. There's other stuff besides toys that people need."

"Well, you didn't like my watch analogy. It's watches too," O'Leary said.

Watch the clip below or at this link.