With an appearance on Friday’s CBS Mornings, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss made her formal on-air debut on one of the network’s flagship newscasts and she made it count as it was to both promote Saturday’s airing of a town hall she had taped earlier this week with Erika Kirk and set the tone for what should be the network’s future of embracing a diversity of views. The fullest depiction came in the second half of her appearance as featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers echoed the need for honest debate, so he made sure to tell viewers Erika’s late husband “Charlie Kirk was controversial in his life” and “[s]ome of his critics called his organization racist, xenophobic, sexist, homophobic.” After a long clip of Weiss asking Erika about some of Charlie’s comments that said “critics” would label as incendiary, Duthiers followed up by wondering what Weiss would say to those declaring it “harmful to platform” the Kirks. Watch as Weiss leveled a response that will hopefully serve as a north star for CBS News and any liberal network looking to regain the public’s trust after decades of self-inflicted hits and overinflated egos (click “expand” to read in full): MORE OF THIS, PLEASE: Important comments from CBS News editor-in-chief @BariWeiss to colleague @VladDuthiersCBS about having conversations with those we disagree with, even if you may think someone is controversial and wrong... CBS’s Vladimir Duthiers: “So, Bari, when I… pic.twitter.com/Sw2xHrgV7w — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 12, 2025   I just fundamentally disagree with the idea that we shouldn’t be able to speak across divides. That doesn’t mean that there are not lines. The question, of course, is whether or not Charlie Kirk crossed those lines and, in my view, you hear me quote many of the controversial things he said — needless to say, there are many things Charlie Kirk said in his life that I vehemently disagree with, but, to me, that’s not the point. The point is that we are walking into an abyss as a country if we accept the idea that words are violence, but violence, if directed at the right targets, is acceptable. I fundamentally reject that world view. The entire point of our democracy, the whole premise of it as we’re entering our 250th year is that we solve our problems by persuasion. We solve our problems by talking to one another. We don’t solve our problems by shooting one another in the neck as happened that day at that Utah college and so, to me, especially as we’re living in a world where you can live next door to someone and if you have different things on your social media feed, you can live in a different reality — and so, the point of this conversation, even if it makes some people uncomfortable, even if they disagree with something they heard on stage, I disagreed with some I heard on stage. The point, that’s the whole nature of the democratic process and this conversation and this whole series that we’re going to be announcing in the coming days, the point is to revive that in a moment this country needs it. More than ever. Going to break, co-host and incoming CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil doubled down on this and, while perfectly accurate, need to be repeated over and over going forward in this new era after, again, a decades-long stench of bias: [I]f you’re watching the news on whatever channel you’re watching, you agree with everything you hear, you’re getting it wrong and second, if you’re only getting those one lines as somehow a summary of a person’s whole life or way of thinking, that’s not true persuasion and that’s not democracy. As we wrote when Dokoupil was named Evening News anchor, count on NewsBusters to continue providing complete coverage of CBS and calling balls and strikes as to whether this new thinking prevails, fails, or is merely lip service. But rewinding to the beginning, Dokoupil set the tone by playing a clip of Kirk in the town hall telling Weiss she “never agree[s] with political violence” and while “we can blame everyone else” from the perpetrator to elected officials, real change starts when we all “tak[e] responsibility.” Back live, Dokoupil asked Weiss to explain why she had Kirk serve as the lead-off for what will be a series of CBS News townhalls at a time when “there are tough conversations and people often don’t feel they can have them because they can’t speak openly about certain topics and ideas.” Weiss first stated the reality that, as a result of her husband’s murder, Erika is now leading “the most important conservative organization in the country” and thus will have enormous sway “over the direction of the right, especially after Trump.” Having said that, Weiss gave CBS News viewers a perspective that was likely unfamiliar to many of their liberal base, which was the country’s in a dangerous place because someone was murdered “practicing the most fundamental of American rights” in “trying to persuade people with words” and the fallout has devolved into celebrations and conspiracy theories: .@BariWeiss in her @CBSMornings debut, promoting her town hall tomorrow with @MrsErikaKirk and taking aim at those who celebrated Charlie’s assassination and the conspiracy theorists claiming she had something to do it... “I think Erika Kirk is a victim of what could be a very,… pic.twitter.com/lU3t3Vrlw0 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 12, 2025   “What matters is that because — she speaks about this in the interview, the brain rot that social media is allowing to spread, the way that it is detaching us from humanity, from our ability to talk to one another and our ability to discern the truth from just out and out lies is something that is incredibly important as a theme,” Weiss added. Co-host Gayle King asked Weiss to weigh in on Erika embracing her Christian faith in this time of enormous pain. Weiss replied that, as someone’s not Christian, Kirk’s belief in Christ was been “powerful” to witness and that someone could hold the duality of forgiving the alleged shooter while still embracing the need for him to face the criminal justice system. CBS’s @BariWeiss on @MrsErikaKirk’s Christian faith being her rock since Charlie’s murder... “I’m not Christian, but bearing witness to something that in her is clearly very deeply held and sincere was quite powerful and powerful for everyone in the audience. I think the thing… pic.twitter.com/34YnGxotsV — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 12, 2025 To see the relevant CBS transcript from December 12, click here.

When the liberals at Norman Lear Center at USC handed out their Walter Cronkite Awards for Fervent Leftist Bias – oops, for “Excellence in TV Political Journalism” – you can count on the winners delivering wild-eyed speeches about America descending into despotism under Donald Trump. You can easily know how much this is Democrats Applauding Themselves when the emcee is Marty Kaplan, who was, back in 1984, the deputy campaign manager of Walter Mondale for President.  Kaplan hailed Maddow's work on the "national pro-democracy movement." Democrats constantly equate themselves with Democracy, and Republicans with despotism. It never matters that Trump recently won in the election results. American democracy resulting in Trump’s election never stops their democracy-is-dying claptrap.   Rachel Maddow thrilled the audience by proclaiming her heroism of her work: “The story of our age, I really believe—the story of our democracy right now—is not a Washington story. And it is not easy to cover. But right now, it is the most important story in the world.” The “most important story” is any band of protesters or disrupters of Trump and his attempts to enforce the immigration laws, which they paint as “authoritarian” stuff. Maddow said telling the story isn’t about focusing on Trump “the despot,” but on the “reaction of the people” [leftists] resisting the alleged despot: MADDOW: Imagine a faraway country with its democracy at risk. It’s under pressure from a leader having his friends buy up and domesticate previously independent media, doing his best to intimidate or shut down the rest. He has the intent to rule by force, to consolidate all power in himself and rule indefinitely without being constrained by election results. The Left looks ridiculous when they claim Trump is "domesticating independent media," which is their code for "making leftist networks in any way less fervently leftist." Defunding PBS and NPR is somehow "intimidating" or "domesticating," but anyone observing them knows they haven't changed their tilt a bit this year. CBS News hasn't turned into Newsmax, despite dramatic leftist claims on Twitter.  MADDOW: In this faraway hypothetical country, if our foreign correspondents were to assess whether that country would make it, whether they would weather this storm, they would not try to discern that by ever closer and more minute scrutiny of the words or even the actions of the despot. They would file their dispatches and their reporting and their analysis on the reaction of the people to what the despot is trying to do. They would file their dispatches and their reporting and their analysis based on what is evident in the resilience of the people and the quality of their response and the cleverness of their response and the number of inflatable frog costumes they’re in [as in anti-ICE protests in Portland].... I want to encourage all of you to look to the response of the people and not just the way they are victimized and affected by those in power, because it is the response of the people that will decide whether or not we’re here next year doing awards like this again. There is Democracy's Drama Queen, suggesting that Trump will ban all awards shows for leftist bias in the coming year. Did anything like that happen in Trump's first term? Keeping Jim Acosta out of the briefing room for a week, that's about as dramatic as you can cite. Also notice that anyone who is deported is "victimized." Americans killed or violently harmed by illegal migrants are not counted as "victimized." Democrats suggest that "Democracy" and open borders and zero deportations are the same thing.

It was straight outta Dem Playbook 101: when trying to make the case for--or against--a law or regulation, don't argue the broad principle. Instead, highlight the most sympathetic individual case to play on the public's heartstrings and put pressure on Republicans. On CNN This Morning, that ploy worked -- almost. But then MRC alum Rob Bluey, the president and executive director of the Daily Signal, intervened to dump some serious rain on the liberal parade. In a discussion of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's appearance before the House Homeland Security committee yesterday, CNN focused on the case of Army veteran Sae Joon Park, who had earned a Purple Heart and had supposedly "been deported." Outrageous, no? Except . . . the case began to unravel when it was revealed that Park had self-deported! As Park explained in a clip, he knew he was likely to be deported and didn't want to put his family through the disruption of his detention while awaiting deportation. But CNN didn't disclose why Park knew that he was likely to be deported. That's when Bluey, in his tactful way, dropped the hammer: "I think that there are some facts in this case where there was a criminal charge, if I'm not mistaken." Rob was not mistaken. And it wasn't just a charge. Park was convicted of drug possession and bail jumping and served three years of prison time. That made him ineligible for citizenship or entitled to remain in the country. So, as Ann Coulter would say, Adios, America! Good on Rob for speaking truth to CNN power! Is this really the best "victim" the Dems and CNN can find in the heart-wrenching department? Note: A clip was played from the hearing in which grandstanding Democrat Congressman Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island confronted Noem: "Earlier this year, you deported [Park] to Korea, a country he hasn't lived in since he was seven years old. And can you please tell Mr. Park why you deported him?" The answer, as we've seen, is that Noem didn't deport Park—he deported himself! And he did so because he knew that, given his criminal record, he was not entitled to remain in the country or become a citizen. In accusing Noem of deporting Park, Magaziner had either been poorly prepared by his staff or, more likely, was being intentionally dishonest to score points. Group Chat member Noel King, a former NPR anchor, mocked Noem: "I was surprised that she was so surprised to hear about the veteran who'd been deported. Had she read a newspaper, she would have seen that story months ago." Actually, if King had carefully read a newspaper, she would have known that, as stated, Park had not "been deported." He deported himself--for good reason! Here's the transcript. CNN This Morning 12/12/25 6:01 am ET AUDIE CORNISH: Secretary Kristi Noem's combative hearing on Capitol Hill. The Homeland Security Secretary faced calls to resign and was accused by Democrats of lying and violating the law as she leads the Trump administration's mass deportations. The hearing got off to a rough start. KRISTI NOEM: I am very privileged and honored today to have my family with me. I'd like to introduce them to you.  PROTESTER: Stop ICE raids! End deportations! COMMITTEE CHAIR: Disruptions of congressional business are a violation of laws, a criminal offense under federal law.  CORNISH: So, once the heckling stopped, Democrats pounced. There was an exchange between the Secretary and Democratic Congressman Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island. They demanded to know why US Army veterans have been deported by DHS. And when Noem denied that has ever happened, she was confronted with a Purple Heart recipient who was shot twice while serving in the U.S. Army in Panama back in 1989.  SETH MAGAZINER: Earlier this year, you deported him to Korea, a country he hasn't lived in since he was seven years old. Will you join me in thanking Mr. Park for his service to our country?  NOEM: Sir, I'm grateful for every single person that has served our country and follows our laws --  MAGAZINER: And can you please tell Mr. Park why you deported him?  NOEM: -- every one of them needs to be enforced.  CORNISH: Noem eventually promised to look into this case.  . . .  NOEL KING: I was surprised that she was so surprised to hear about the veteran who'd been deported. Had she read a newspaper, she would have seen that story months ago.  CORNISH: Yeah, let me give an example. We actually spoke to him here at CNN, and I want to play for you, because this person did a self-deportation, but when you hear his thinking given the last couple of months, it's interesting.  SAE JOON PARK: I didn't want to put my family through everything, and I knew that if I got detained, I wouldn't know how long I'd be staying detained for. And my chance are, if I got detained, I was pretty sure that they were going to deport me. So I did talk with my lawyer and everything. And I thought, we thought, the safest way for myself was to remove myself before I got detained.  CORNISH: Rob, I want to ask you about this because she wasn't confronted with picture of this person or a quote about this person. He was on Zoom looking at her. And what did you think of that moment?  ROB BLUEY: Yeah, often these personal stories heart-touching. I think that there are some facts in this case where there was a criminal charge, if I'm not mistaken, with this particular individual. So I think it's important to look at them on a case-by-case basis.

MRC Watchdogs churn out breaking news on a daily basis. Don't miss Today's Highlights, where you can keep up with the top MRC content, whether it's the latest study on media bias, a glaring omission from the elitist media, or how the Big Tech companies are serving up the same leftist spin as the media.  Top Stories: 1)Trade Deficit Lowest in 5 Years, Thanks to Trump’s Tariffs - Media and Analysts Shocked 2) MRC Has Receipts: Wikipedia Cites Leftist Outlets Nearly 20x More Often than Right 3) Labeling Imbalance Persists at PBS After Trump Rescinded Federal Funding 4) Apple News Shows ONLY 1 Right-Leaning Outlet Out of 560 Articles Throughout November 5) Biden’s Immigration Debacle Is the Media’s, Too   1) Trade Deficit Lowest in 5 Years, Thanks to Trump’s Tariffs - Media and Analysts Shocked Lowest Trade Deficit in Five Years: The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. goods and services trade deficit in September fell to $52.8 billion, the lowest monthly level since June 2020. This significant reduction shows that the trade strategy was effective in meeting the stated goal of narrowing the deficit. Surge in Exports: The decrease in the deficit was driven primarily by a 3.0% increase in exports, which "dwarfed" the 0.6% rise in imports. Furthermore, the $289.3 billion value of exports was the second-highest monthly total on record, demonstrating a robust positive impact on U.S. sales abroad. Media and Analyst Surprise (The "Unexpected" Outcome): The fact that analysts predicted the deficit would grow (to $62.5-$63.5 billion) and the media consistently used the word "unexpectedly" highlights that the positive result defied conventional economic wisdom and media pessimism regarding the tariff policy. Even typically critical outlets like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal "begrudgingly" gave the administration credit for achieving its goal of balancing the deficit. 2) MRC Has Receipts: Wikipedia Cites Leftist Outlets Nearly 20x More Often than Right Extreme Citation Imbalance: Wikipedia overwhelmingly favors left-leaning sources, citing them nearly 20 times more often than right-leaning outlets (5,320,017 citations vs. 292,250 citations). This data, compiled by MRC Free Speech America researchers across all languages, demonstrates a massive, systemic bias in the online encyclopedia's references. Official Blacklist Mechanism: This citation disparity is not accidental, but a direct result of how Wikipedia operates. Its editors rely on a list of designated "reliable sources" that overwhelmingly approves left-wing media (like CNN and Mother Jones) while effectively restricting or banning right-of-center media, proving that the bias is built into the site's editorial policy. Promotion of Specific Allegations: The biased citations result in Wikipedia pages actively promoting a leftist agenda and including specific, politically charged content. Examples provided in the article include claims of "white supremacist" views against Vice President JD Vance, blood libel accusations against Israel, and a "misinformation" jab placed on Charlie Kirk's page immediately after his assassination. The figures remained uneven after President Trump signed the bill rescinding federal funding from PBS and NPR on July 24, with 11 variations of “far-right” labels and 2 of “far-left” ones. Overall, the post-July 24 labeling disparity was 17-9. (Note: Coverage of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk began September 10, 2025, which may have skewed the post-July 24 raw figures somewhat toward balance.) 3) Labeling Imbalance Persists at PBS After Trump Rescinded Federal Funding MRC analysts counted up the “left-wing” and “right-wing” style ideological labels used by anchors, reporters, and contributors on the PBS News Hour regarding American politics from December 1, 2024 through November 30, 2025. PBS News Weekend programs were not included. PBS staff used 44 variations of "far-right" labels and only 4 of "far-left" labels, a ratio of 11:1. PBS staff also used mere "right-wing" and "left-wing" labels at a disparity of 17-12. So overall, the labeling disparity was 61-16. The figures remained uneven after President Trump signed the bill rescinding federal funding from PBS and NPR on July 24, with 11 variations of “far-right” labels and 2 of “far-left” ones. Overall, the post-July 24 labeling disparity was 17-9. (Note: Coverage of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk began September 10, 2025, which may have skewed the post-July 24 raw figures somewhat toward balance.) 4) Apple News Shows ONLY 1 Right-Leaning Outlet Out of 560 Articles Throughout November Apple News Delivers Stark Ideological Imbalance: Throughout November 2025, Apple News showcased only one right-leaning outlet (The Telegraph, a British source) in its top 20 daily stories—out of 560 articles reviewed—exposing a near-total blackout on conservative perspectives in a platform reaching millions of users. Major U.S. Conservative Voices Silenced Despite Popularity: No prominent American right-leaning outlets like Fox News, Daily Mail, or New York Post cracked the top 20, even though they rank among the highest-traffic U.S. news sites—proving Apple News prioritizes curation over consumer demand. Left-Leaning Dominance Floods the Feed: Radical leftist sources like Vox, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Vice overwhelmed the top slots, alongside staples like The Washington Post, NBC News, and Al Jazeera—turning Apple News into an echo chamber for progressive narratives. Even Token Conservatism Is Locked Away: The solitary right-leaning article was buried behind an Apple News+ paywall, denying free users access and underscoring Big Tech's agenda to marginalize dissenting views—time to demand transparency and fairness for all. 5) Biden’s Immigration Debacle Is the Media’s, Too Biden's Ideological Folly Ignored Warnings, Unleashing Chaos: Despite pre-election memos from top aides in August 2020 warning of a massive border surge from lax enforcement and pent-up demand, the administration's partisan push flooded the U.S. with millions of illegal immigrants—proving ideology and incompetence trumped common sense, as admitted by former ICE official Deborah Fleischaker: "I don’t think we ever recovered." Mainstream Media's Delayed "Postgame" Coverage Betrayed the Public: Outlets like The New York Times buried the immigration crisis for years—treating it as yesterday's news only in late 2025—mirroring their silence on Biden's senility, leaving voters in the dark while conservative alarms rang unanswered and enabling Democratic denial until electoral disaster struck. Abbott's Busing Genius Exposed Blue-State Hypocrisy: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's strategic transport of tens of thousands of migrants to sanctuary cities like New York and Denver shattered Democrats' plan to dump the crisis on red states, forcing elite voters to face the consequences and marking the turning point where Biden's team lost the immigration debate for good.  

PBS’s Amanpour & Co., which is simulcast on CNN International, hosted guest Demetre Daskalakis on Monday’s edition and repped his appearance in an email with the subject line: “‘People Will Die:’ Fmr. CDC Official Warns Against HIV/AIDS Cuts.” Daskalakis resigned as director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases in August.   A deeper dive into the history of Daskaslakis’s politically correct hypocrisy during his Biden-era term at the Centers for Disease Control would have been instructive. But all we got from guest host Bianna Golodryga was commiseration against the ignorant rule of Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Junior. Golodryga explained that “In August, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis resigned from the CDC, accusing the agency under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of ignoring science." The first item in his talk with reporter Hari Sreenivasan: The Trump Administration's awful failure to promote the purely symbolic World Aids Day. Daskalakis was asked about the discontinuation of the USAID program PEPFAR, which fights AIDS via antiretroviral therapy in the Third World. DASKALAKIS: PEPFAR's future is tenuous at best....if PEPFAR goes away, that means stopping the entire story. And, you know, that's going to not mean just some strange policy issue, it's going to mean that people will die. Sreenivasan mildly challenged his guest with what he termed “the State Department's rationale, we're thinking is, look, we have to stop being the people that are the only ones that are writing the check. We have to transition this to the host countries." Daskalakis conveniently donned a patriotic hat and warned that to cut off U.S. taxpayer funding would be immoral, given America's “moral responsibility.” DASKALAKIS: ….I think the other part that is important is, you know, the U.S. is the global leader in public health. It is our moral responsibility to support these countries. And if we decide to change our funding strategy, we need to do it in a way that, in fact, does not let people die…. Asked why HIV was still a large “public health problem in the United States,” Daskalakis blamed….not celebrating World AIDS Day. Yes, really. DASKALAKIS: Your answer is what happens when the country decides not to celebrate or commemorate World AIDS Day. This is a stigma and access game in the United States. People do not access care. They don't access testing because it's scary. It -- people are made invisible because of the stigma that is getting even worse in the United States with some of the activity against LGBT people are made invisible because of the stigma that is getting even worse in the United States with some of the activity against LGBTQ health…. Daskalakis’s hysterical anti-Trump rants went unmentioned, like when he appeared on MSNBC (MSNOW) to screech “This is where fascism lives” after resigning in a huff in a letter that referred to “pregnant people” – a detail that alone should disqualify him from any position of medical expertise (men can’t get pregnant, as most of us know). He has also posed for public photos wearing a leather pentagram harness and downplayed the sexually transmitted disease Monkeypox for libertine reasons. Schools were shuttered at the small risk of COVID spread, but promiscuous nightlife was protected. As Daskalakis himself said, “You know, one person’s idea of risk is another person’s idea of a great festival or Friday night.”