Trump administration bars several news organisations from White House briefing

The White House excluded several major US news organisations, including some it has criticised, from an off-camera briefing held by the White House press secretary on Friday.

Reporters for CNN, The New York Times, Politico, The Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed were not allowed into the session in the office of press secretary Sean Spicer.

Spicer's off-camera briefing, or "gaggle," replaced the usual televised daily news briefing in the White House briefing room.

He did not say why those particular news organisations were excluded, a decision which drew strong protests.

Reuters was included in the session, along with about 10 other news organisations, including Bloomberg and CBS.

President Donald Trump has regularly attacked the media and at a gathering of conservative activists on Friday he criticised news organisations that he said provide "fake news", calling them the "enemy" of the American people.

Spicer said his team decided to have a gaggle in his office on Friday instead of a full briefing in the larger White House briefing room and argued that “we don´t need to do everything on camera every day.”

Reporters at the Associated Press and Time magazine walked out of the briefing when hearing that others had been barred from the session.

Off-camera gaggles are not unusual. The White House often invites handpicked outlets in for briefings, typically for specific topics.

But briefings and gaggles in the White House are usually open to all outlets and they are free to ask anything.

A pool reporter from Hearst Newspapers was included in the gaggle on Friday and gave full details to the entire press corps.

Media outlets allowed into the gaggle also shared their audio with others.

Spicer's decision drew a sharp response from some of the media outlets that were excluded.

"Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties," Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said in a statement.

"We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organisations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest."

The White House Correspondents Association, or WHCA, also protested. "The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today´s gaggle is being handled by the White House," said Jeff Mason, president of the association and a Reuters reporter.

During the election campaign last year, Trump´s team banned a few news organisations, including The Washington Post and BuzzFeed, from covering his campaign rallies for a period of time to protest their coverage.

CNN posted a Twitter message on Friday afternoon saying, "This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House. Apparently, this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don’t like. We’ll keep reporting regardless.”

Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, said in a statement, "While we strongly object to the White House´s apparent attempt to punish news outlets whose coverage it does not like, we won´t let these latest antics distract us from continuing to cover this administration fairly and aggressively."

On Friday, Spicer said the White House plans to fight against what it says is unfair coverage. "I think we’re going to aggressively push back," he said.

"We’re just not going to sit back and let false narratives, false stories, inaccurate facts get out there."

Multiple news outlets denied access to White House press briefing

The White House barred several news organizations from an off-camera press briefing on Friday, handpicking a select group of reporters that included a number of conservative outlets friendly toward Donald Trump.

The “gaggle” with Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, took place in lieu of his daily briefing and was originally scheduled as an on-camera event.

But the White House press office announced later in the day that the Q&A session would take place off camera before only an “expanded pool” of journalists, and in Spicer’s West Wing office as opposed to the James S Brady press briefing room where it is typically held.

Outlets seeking to gain entry whose requests were denied included the Guardian, the New York Times, Politico, CNN, BuzzFeed, the BBC, the Daily Mail and others. Conservative publications such as Breitbart News, the One America News Network and the Washington Times were allowed into the meeting, as well as TV networks CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC. The Associated Press and Time were invited but boycotted the briefing.

The decision to limit access to Spicer, hours after Trump once again declared that much of the media was “the enemy of the American people” while speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, marked a dramatic shift.

While prior administrations have occasionally held background briefings with smaller groups of reporters, it is highly unusual for the White House to cherry-pick which media outlets can participate in what would have otherwise been the press secretary’s televised daily briefing. The briefing has become indispensable viewing for journalists trying to interpret the often contradictory statements coming out of the Trump administration, and Spicer’s aggressive handling of the press and delivery of false or misleading statements have already been memorably mocked on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

“Gaggles” – more informal briefings – with the press secretary are traditionally only limited to the pool when they conflict with the president’s travel, in which case they often take place aboard Air Force One. At times, impromptu gaggles form with reporters who spend their days in the White House, but denying outlets wishing to participate is extremely uncommon.

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 Trump at CPAC: I oppose fake news, not the media

The White House Correspondents Association president, Jeff Mason, said the organization’s board was “protesting strongly” against the Trump administration’s action.

“We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not,” Mason said. “The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.”

The executive editor of the New York Times, Dean Baquet, said “nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties”.

Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for the White House, said: “Claims that outlets were excluded are not factual.”

In a statement, she added: “The pool was there, so various media mediums were represented.” The pool is a system by which a small group of reporters take turns covering the president and share their reports of his activities with a larger group.

Contrary to Grisham’s statement, outlets who made requests to attend were told this would not be permitted.

When the Guardian asked to participate, pointing to its possession of a “hard pass” that grants daily entry to the White House, an official declined.

“No, unfortunately a hard pass does not necessarily guarantee entry into the gaggle,” Catherine Hicks, a junior White House press aide, emailed in response.

“The gaggle today is just today’s pool with the addition of a few others here at the White House.”

Some outlets lingered in the West Wing hallway out of frustration but were asked by a Secret Service agent, upon instructions from the White House press office, to leave the area.

Earlier on Friday, Trump continued his assault on the press in a speech before the nation’s largest gathering of conservative activists. 

He said the press should not be allowed to use anonymous sources, a restriction on free speech he has not suggested before. “You will see stories dry up like you have never seen before,” Trump predicted.

“As you saw throughout the entire campaign, and even now, the fake news doesn’t tell the truth,” Trump said at CPAC. 

“I say it doesn’t represent the people, it never will represent the people, and we’re going to do something about it.”

Trump’s comments came on the heels of revelations that his chief of staff spoke with top officials at the FBI about the bureau’s investigation into potential links between the president’s associates and Russia. The White House lambasted the reports, which appeared in CNN and the Associated Press, but in doing so confirmed the conversations between Reince Priebus, the FBI director, James Comey, and his deputy, Andrew McCabe.

The decision by Trump’s administration to restrict access to the press for Spicer’s briefing prompted at least some seasoned reporters to observe that the White House had successfully changed the topic:

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Maggie Haberman 

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And now, the topic of the evening is the media outlets excluded, not the Priebus interactions w FBI + question of open investigation.

1:34 AM - 25 Feb 2017

 
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Spicer defended his move in the off-camera gaggle, telling reporters at the private briefing that he was keeping with a promise “to hold sort of gathering [with the press] every day”.

“The president spoke today. As you know we don’t generally do – we haven’t done briefings when the president’s had a major event or an event with a world leader,” Spicer said. Events with world leaders typically include at least a few press questions; Trump’s appearance at CPAC was a speech with no questions.

Spicer added: “We want to make sure we answer your questions, but we don’t need to do everything on camera every day.”

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South Africa vs New Zealand 2nd ODI Highlights Feb 22, 2017

Dutch MPs vote to approve cannabis cultivation for first time

The Dutch lower house of parliament has narrowly voted to approve the cultivation of cannabis.

The bill would exempt professional growers working within certain conditions from punishment.

But it is not yet law, as it must also get majority support from the Senate.

Buying small amounts of cannabis at so-called coffee shops has long been tolerated in the Netherlands, but cultivating and selling it to the coffee shops is illegal.

Coffee shops often fall back on supplies from criminal networks.

• The Netherlands - where people openly smoke marijuana

Tuesday's bill was put forward by an MP for the liberal party, D66, which has long supported a relaxation in the law. It passed with 77 votes to 72.

But it is thought unlikely to get through the Senate, or First Chamber, if the vote goes along the same party lines.

Despite the bill's uncertain future, those working within the industry have welcomed it as a positive step.

"It is good news for the coffee shop industry because it will finally - if it passes the First Chamber - put an end to a lot of stuff we can't organise in a normal and transparent way," Joachim Helms, chairman of the Coffee Shop Union, told the Associated Press news agency.

Firms could reduce pension generosity, ministers suggest

Firms in financial trouble could be allowed to reduce the generosity of pensions, the government has suggested.

As part of a discussion paper on the future of Defined Benefit (DB) pensions, it said financially "stressed" companies might be allowed to water down previous promises.

About 5% of businesses are in that category, according to the green paper.

As many as eleven million people are members of private sector DB schemes, which link pensions to salaries.

In particular, some companies might be allowed to adjust the way they up-rate pension payments annually to compensate for inflation.

Instead of using the Retail Prices Index (RPI), it could be that some companies would be allowed to use the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) instead, the government said.

Since CPI is usually lower than RPI, it would save firms money.

However, such a change could cost the average pensioner up to £20,000 over the course of their retirement, according to the discussion document.

Most public-sector Defined Benefit pensions schemes moved to the CPI measure in 2011.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image captionPublic sector pensions, like the NHS scheme, already use CPI to up-rate payments

Steve Webb, who was a pensions minister under the Coalition government, said allowing such a change would be worrying.

"There is a significant risk that relaxing standards on inflation protection - with the best of intentions for exceptional cases - could be exploited and lead to millions of retired people being at risk of cuts in their real living standards," he said.

In the paper, the government also raises the idea of temporarily suspending any sort of inflation indexation at all, when pension schemes are in serious trouble.

Yet it admits this could raise "moral hazard issues", whereby companies might be tempted to deliberately increase their deficits to save money on pension pay-outs.

Shrinking deficits

Most DB pension schemes remain "affordable" for employers, the government said, even though most are currently in deficit.

So the government's message to employers is unequivocal: most can clear their pension deficits if they want to.

It said the total deficit of all DB schemes in January 2017 was £197bn, down from £459bn in August 2016.

"Our modelling suggests that these deficits are likely to shrink for the majority of schemes, if employers continue to pay into schemes at current/promised levels," the paper declares.

"While DB pensions are more expensive than they were when they were set up, many employers could clear their pension deficit if required."

DB schemes have declined over recent years, as employers have switched to more affordable defined contribution (DC) schemes, where pension payouts are linked to investment returns.

The pensions industry is now being asked to comment on the ideas in the green paper.

NSW community in grief after husband, wife and brother die in water tank tragedy

The tight-knit country NSW town where three family members were found dead inside an empty water tank is struggling to come to terms with the tragic loss of the well-liked and respected trio.

Andrew Basnett, his wife Anne and brother Richard all died after becoming overcome by what's believed to be carbon monoxide fumes inside the tank at their farm outside Gunning, near Yass, about 60km north of Canberra on Thursday afternoon.

Andrew (left), Anne (middle) and Robert (right) were killed after a water tank filled with poisonous gas.

Andrew, 69, was conducting routine maintenance on the cement tank when he lost consciousness.

His 60-year-old brother, Robert, then went into the tank to check on him and also passed out, acting Hume LAC police commander Andrew Koutsoufis said this morning.

Robert Basnett, 60, was killed when he went to check on his brother inside the water tank.

Shortly after, Andrew's wife, Anne, entered the tank and subsequently collapsed.

Police believe he was using a petrol pump, which may have caused a build-up of fumes at the bottom of the tank.

The deaths are being described by police as "absolutely tragic".

Yass Valley Deputy Mayor and close friend Kim Turner says the close-knit town of Gunning - which has a population of about 450 - is still coming to grips with the deaths.

"They were wonderful community people and very well respected sheep breeders," he said, adding Andrew and Anne were always willing to help "anyone in need".

"It's horrendous. It's hard to imagine any circumstances other than a car accident where you wipe our three members of one family."

Authorities found all three of the family members dead inside the tank after a neighbour raised the alarm.

Andrew Basnett was reportedly cleaning the tank before he collapsed.

"I believe the neighbour was alerted by the wife [before she went into] the water tank," Mr Koutsoufis said.

"There was a petrol pump being used to clean the tank and that may have been the cause of the build up fumes at the bottom of the water tank.

"Carbon monoxide poisoning is a line of inquiry that we're following."

Andrew and Anne Basnett were found dead by a neighbour who raised the alarm.

The deaths have rocked the local community. (9NEWS)

Mr Koutsoufis described the situation as "tragic" and said it had devastated the rural community.

"It's devastated a family at Gunning and being a small country town it's obviously a devastating outcome for a town like Gunning. A lot of people are hurting at the moment," he said.

Gunning cafe worker Kirsty, 20, told 9news.com.au the deaths have shocked the town.

"It’s major news in the town especially in such a small place like this," she said.

"Everyone knows each other and it really hits home.

A post mortem examination will be conducted over the coming days to confirm the victims' cause of death.

Occupational physician Associate Professor Anthony Brown of the University of Sydney said confined spaces can often pose a considerable safety risk due to poor ventilation.

"In confined spaces, you have a limited atmosphere and it’s easy to contaminate it," he told 9news.com.au.

"The sort of thing that often happens is you have a contamination and levels get high enough, causing someone to collapse.

"Someone else sees it, they go into to help, which is quite laudable -- but then they’re affected too."

Gunning is a three hour drive from Sydney. (9NEWS)

Prof Brown said that the colourless, odourless nature of carbon monoxide often means its presence goes overlooked, until too late.

He recalled one specific instance where residents were asphyxiated after closing up the windows of their home and leaving a fire going overnight.

Prof Brown added that confined spaces "need to be taken seriously" as they are "potential dangerous all the time".

"If you're going into a place that’s closed up without ventilation you have to think seriously, 'How can I do this safely?'" he said.

Prof Brown has also issued a warning regarding the use of smaller engines like pumps or generators, which he said pose a greater risk of causing carbon monoxide contamination when compared to cars.

Fox News host defends CNN and demands answers from Trump over Russia ties

Donald Trump has repeatedly praised Fox News and its morning TV show, Fox & Friends, at news conferences and on social media.

But now a senior news anchor with the network has criticised the US President after he launched a sustained attack on the media during a fiery and, at times chaotic, news conference.

"It's crazy what we're watching every day," said Shepard Smith. "It's absolutely crazy."

The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017

He added that Mr Trump "keeps repeating ridiculous, throwaway lines that are not true at all."

Mr Smith's comments came after the US President delivered his first solo news conference in which he attacked the media, targeting highly respected newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as the broadcaster CNN, which he upgraded from “fake news” to “very fake news”.    

Repeatedly questioned by reporters over leaks suggesting that his campaign aides had close contact with Russia during the presidential race, Mr Trump maintained his position that the “news is fake.”

“The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake,” he said. "Russia is fake news. Russia — this is fake news put out by the media.”

He also accused the press of deliberately misleading the public about his administration's ties to Russia. 

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Donald Trump says 'the leaks are real, the news is fake' in response to Michael Flynn resignation

But Mr Smith, who joined the Fox News Channel at its inception in 1996, said the American people deserved to know the truth about any “improper communications with Russian officials.”

He said: "Your opposition was hacked and the Russians were responsible for it and your people were on the phone with Russia on the same day it was happening and we're fools for asking the questions?"

Clip: @ShepNewsTeam sticks up for CNN's Jim @Acosta - & went further... pic.twitter.com/iITXqAzXXF

— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) February 16, 2017

Hitting back at the former real-estate mogul’s denial, he said: “We have a right to know. 

“You owe this to the American people. Your supporters will support you either way. If your people were on the phone, what were they saying?”

He added: “We have a right to know, we absolutely do and that you call us fake news and put us down like children for asking these questions on behalf of the American people is inconsequential. The people deserve an answer to this question at very least."

• READ MORE

Trump's abandonment of the two-state solution is dark comedy

Mr Smith also defended CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who has previously borne the brunt of Mr Trump’s media offensive, calling him "an accomplished reporter, a guy I've never met, but a good reporter."

It came at the end of a tumultuous week for the Trump administration after national security adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign when it was revealed he attempted to cover up conversations he had with the Russian ambassador. 

Mr Trump maintained Mr Flynn was “doing his job” however said he asked him to resign because he "didn't tell our Vice President properly" and lied about remembering the content of the call. 

"So, either way, it wasn't very satisfactory to me," he said. "I didn't direct him [to call the diplomat], but I would have directed him because that was his job."