Student Colton Haab stands by claim CNN rewrote his planned questions and told him to “stick to the script”
Names the CNN producer allegedly involved.
Colton Haab, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was planning to appear at the CNN event last night at which students and community members would question politicians and NRA representative Dana Loesch.
The event turned into a fiasco in which Loesch was called a murderer, threatened and jeered by a crowd of thousands. It was a low point, even for CNN, which set up the event for just such a scenario.
But Colton didn’t go to the event after, he said, CNN squelched his proposed statement and questions directed towards school safety, and scripted the questions:
“CNN had originally asked me to write a speech and questions, and it ended up being all scripted,” junior Colton Haab said Wednesday night.
Haab wrote questions about school safety and suggested using veterans as security guards, but he claims CNN wanted him to ask scripted questions instead.
So, Haab said, he declined to participate.
“I don’t think that it’s going to get anything accomplished,” Haab said. “It’s not going to ask the true questions that all the parents and teachers and students have.”
CNN reacted furiously, denying it did any such thing:
CNN response to the claim of a "scripted question" for last night's town hall: pic.twitter.com/Mz1hMqqfkw
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) February 22, 2018
Colton, however, is not backing down.
He appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight tonight, stood by his story, and named the CNN producer who allegedly rewrote his questions and told him to “stick to script”:
On “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Thursday, Haab said he was contacted several days ago by a CNN producer who asked him to write a speech to deliver at the event, in addition to questions to ask.
He said after some back and forth, he was eventually provided with a question that was not his own words.
“They had taken what I had wrote and what I had briefed on and talked about, and they actually wrote the question for me,” Haab said, agreeing with Carlson that it seemed “dishonest.”
He said that’s why he decided not to attend the town hall.
“Originally, I had thought that it was going to be more of my own question and my own say. And then it turned out to be more of just a script,” Haab said. “And [the producer] had actually said that over the phone, that I needed to stick to the script.”
When Carlson asked if he believes other students’ town hall questions were reworded, Haab said “absolutely.”
“Honestly, it was very shocking to me, because we just went through such a horrific tragedy,” Haab said. “For them to take that and make such a big newscast over what they want to hear, it was very upsetting to me.”
Someone was watching:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/966846679784837120
(Added) CNN continues to deny the claim:
There is absolutely no truth to this story — and we can prove that. CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night's town hall, nor have we ever. Those are the facts. #FactsFirst ?
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) February 23, 2018
UPDATE 2-28-2018: CNN produced email evidence that several words were omitted from an email produced by Haab’s father to the media to support Colton’s statements. I’m not sure the father’s apparent editing of one email changes Colton’s statements with regard to conversations he had with the producer in which she prevented him from giving the statement he wanted, but it has given CNN the ability to claim it never “scripted” the questions. Jazz Shaw has the story at Hot Air, The “Scripted Town Hall” Story Comes To An End.
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Do you trust the kid or CNN? I will go with the kid. As far as I know he doesn’t have a track record for lying and manufacturing “news” like CNN does.
Easy decision – I believe the kid!
Interesting side note – Milo says all those mass shooters have been on school approved and required behavior modification drugs! (That comes at the end of this short clip.)
Boys are Being Drugged For Not Meeting Female Behavioral Standards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g65b848FVrQ
It would make sense, although you’re probably reversing Cause and Effect. The *easy* answer that most schools/doctors have is “Your child is acting weird. Have them take this pill. That didn’t work? Try this pill.” and so on.
Saw him on TuCa last night – his entire demeanor was extremely credible, especially for someone his age. He even noted that he had watched a bit of the rally he was originally supposed to be at, and he noticed that all of the teens asked to talk were holding the same little bits of white paper that the rally producer had tried to force him to read from. He made that point that sure, they may have had notes, but how did everyone who spoke decide to use the exact same sized slip of paper as everyone else?
At this point, I’m with the kid. Yesterday, I thought there might have been a misunderstanding, but what the kid is now saying sounds like specific truth. Anyone who is not a known liar should be given deference when at odds with CNN, which is a known liar. I should never have doubted him.
CNN managed to forget to mention that Jake Tapper used to be a spokesman for Handgun Control, Inc., so I’m sure they forgot some other stuff too.
CNN has shown they are willing to lie, double down on those lies, and push their agenda no matter what. I believe the kid, though it’s difficult to determine how altered his question was. I understand they look to keep things moving, but it isn’t their job to put words into these kids’ mouths. He is articulate, it is something he wants to talk about and share his views on. He should have been given that chance, in his own words, in his own way.
My prediction: The shrieking, irrational hysteria will generate enough attention that many states will finally be compelled to pass laws allowing permits for individuals who have completed training for campus carry.
I doubt it. I live in Florida, and pretty much every pro-gun bill is dead at this point. School carry simply can’t be passed in this media climate. Our legislators don’t have the spine to stand up to the media onslaught.
I think you may be right for the blue states and others such as Florida. But for many states, the issue is already on the table and this will just help push it through.
I think it’s already allowed – maybe Utah or some western states – I forget which. I’d like to see some empirical data/social science on how it has worked out so far: Any evidence that arming teachers has reduced violence by students, teachers or trespassers on school grounds; have any teachers gone postal; any students stolen or wrestled guns away from teachers; and so on.
But it’s all just emotionalism.
While there will likely be positive action in a few states (perhaps very few), I think it is probable that most pro-firearms legislation is dead for the rest of this Congress and state legislative year. I had guarded hope that National Reciprocity for carry licenses would be possible, I certainly don’t see that happening now.
Heh…looks like I might have called it 🙂
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/02/22/trump-proposes-bonuses-armed-teachers/
The tide has turned. Parents with kids in school today are scared. Gun free zones are where the crazies go.
It’s a catch 22 for the left.
“Gun Free Zones” are like “Shooting Fish in a Barrel.”
President Trump has the perfect solution!
The Left is too stupid to learn that everything Evil they do to attack President Trump, is just turned around 180 degrees and into the Leftists’ Worst Nightmares!
Oh Nightmares were never so Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!
……so to speak……
Heard the guy who apparently runs this program on WJR’s Frank Beckmann’s show Thursday. It’s not an easy course and it really sounds like it’s well thought out. Not all teachers pass.
https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/faculty-administrator-safety-training-emergency-response
Everyone agrees that safety training is important for our schools, but in an active killer situation, the emergency response must happen fast to save lives.
This is why Buckeye Firearms Foundation has launched a program called FASTER to provide violence response training to teachers and administrators. FASTER stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response.
If you are a school staff member, CLICK HERE to visit the FASTER website.
To support this program, click the donate button. Buckeye Firearms Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible.
Of course they did. MULTIPLE other students were blatantly reading questions off paper or their phones.
It got really, REALLY pathetic when a student ‘asked’ a question for Dana Loesch and she wasn’t even on stage at the time.
So again CNN is caught making news instead of reporting it. They ought to start winning the award for Best Reality TV show instead of news.
Wouls CNN, the network that traded Saddam favorable coverage for access and fed Hillary debate questions stage a fake town hall?
CNN is known to collude with parties hostile to American People, Posterity, and constitutional rights.
In fact, CNN is known to give aid and comfort, and a bullhorn, to these anti-American domestic and foreign interests.
I remember a while back, a video of CNN setting up an interview at a supposed Muslim rally where they took 8 or 10 Arabs, gave them preprinted posters and positioned them on a stage set up on a street in such a way that it looked like dozens of protesters. They were totally busted. Fake news? Heck yes, they don’t take any chances when it comes to getting the story they want.
“Traded favorable coverage”
Thats a bit generous. CNN squelched reports of Saddam’s torture chambers and rape rooms in exchange for access.
CNN Communications: “When we first earned about the death camps, we kept it from the public so Hitler wouldnt hang up when we asked for an interview”
Recent information shows that the school did all they could to hide the shooter’s behavior (I refuse to use his name and give him any notoriety) in an effort to make the school system appear better. (https://theconservativetreehouse.com/ 2018/02/21/its-too-late-broward-county-school-board-beginning-to-admit-their-mistakes/#more-146133) (Remove the space for the link to work.) Additionally, it is now being reported that an armed deputy who was the school’s resource officer was present and refused to enter the building and confront the shooter. He evidently stood outside for some time listening to the shooter shooting/killing the students and did nothing. (https://theconservativetreehouse.com/ 2018/02/22/broward-coward-armed-county-sheriff-cowered-outside-building-refused-to-confront-parkland-school-shooter/) Lastly, I watched the town hall meeting with Marco Rubio by CNN and it was such a staged, politicized event that I cannot see how the public is unable to see how this is all political manipulation.
This…
“(I refuse to use his name and give him any notoriety)”
Should be the same way the press treats these attention seeking cowards. They could still report on the mayhem without using his name and giving the a-hole all the publicity he’s seeking.
Somewhere, there’s another fame seeking coward who is watching all this saying “Wow! Look at all the attention he’s getting and he ONLY killed 17! I know I can do better.”
Maybe if his name wasn’t plastered all over the news for weeks at a time, it wouldn’t set off the next would-be fame seeker.
The trouble is if they do not give the name , citizen researchers can not find information to refute the preferred narrative .They could say that Omar Mateen was a redneck Republican Trump supporter who just came from his KKK Monument protest
Name the producer, check phone records. Did the producer talk to the student. Are other attendees willing to testify under oath that CNN did not groom their questions? Seems like an easy investigation to me.
Sorry, my week’s quota of ritual outrage is all used up. Until I hear what those CNN creeps actually did—that is, what was the damn question they tried to plant, and who tried to plant it?—I’m not going to get excited.
CNN‘s list of real crimes is already long enough; no need to add imaginary ones.
CNN outright claims they can prove a logical negative. I don’t know if that counts as evidence of a crime, but it’s certainly evidence of breathtaking stupidity.
So why did you not report the name he gave? The CNN producer who, Haab says, told him to “stick to the script”, is Carrie Stevenson.
The real problem is that this isn’t anything unusual. Most of what passes for news today is inaccurate, incomplete and/or fabricated to produce the impression on the public that the leftist news-flacks want them to believe. The unusual thing is that, in this instance, someone exposed it.
And it’s been that way for more than 100 years now……
CNN Theater.
Very impressive how we Americans allow the media to distract us from the real issue at hand. This is irrelevant. The country developing mass Attention Deficit; the world is appalled and stunned.
I do not know of Mr. Haab’s honesty,I however aware of CNN’s lack of honesty.
By virtue of default Mr. Haab for the truth,Communist News Network for the LIE.
Just a reminder…. Jake Tapper worked for Handgun Control and the Brady Bunch prior to his present “reporter” gig. That he didn’t take pains to keep things even and is part of CNN speaks volumes although in his mind he may think he is fair and honest broker.
China says be like them….. and yes China is the model for the Left.. a “peaceful and controlled society” as long as you follow the party line…. a more sophisticated version of an offer you dare not refuse. Libery? That is only for squares… Tienanmen square.
Lots of strange things with the shooter
800k inheritance he has available at 22 (his guardians wants to take control of it)
Political hacks who only focus on gun control.
Resource officer who refused to engage the shooter
Instant protests organized before the dead were even buried
Students tripping over scripted talking points in front of the cameras
I’m sure this isn’t over yet. Somehow they will tie Russian collusion next.
This stinks to high heaven
And to think the FBI was already “involved” before it actually happened!
Some interesting reading on this latest FAKE MEDIA abuse of children!
“Stop Putting Traumatized Teenagers On Television
“Our job as adults is to help and protect kids who survive school shootings, not ask them to lead us at their own peril.
“The children of Parkland are not going to solve our nation’s problem with mass shootings. They aren’t even a first step. They are traumatized victims of that problem and they are kids. They don’t belong on television. They belong with parents, educators, and mental health professionals who are more worried about them than about national gun policy or, dare we suggest, ratings.
“Leave the kids alone. It’s our job to lead, not theirs. It’s our job to tell them the truth, not lie to them about a power to make change that they do not have.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/19/stop-putting-traumatized-teenagers-television/
One of my prouder moments in my naval service was when an evaluator during either JTFEX or COMPTUEX threw a first aid situation my way. And I handled it. And he gave me full credit and said, “Because your officer knew…” Even prouder, when I rotated out of the job the Sailors knew what I knew.
“The children of Parkland are not going to solve our nation’s problem…”