Despite ‘fake news’ claims, Trump gives media wide access: CNN’s Collins

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00:00Under President Trump, reporters say covering the White House can be unlike anything reporters

00:05have seen before. CNN's Caitlin Collins says the president's unusual accessibility

00:11and his constant presence for media questions keeps reporters on their toes and sometimes

00:18sleep deprived. Most politicians are not very press savvy. It kind of depends on who it is.

00:26I think Trump always understood the value of a camera and a microphone.

00:30CNN's primetime anchor explained how Trump is more accessible to the media than most politicians,

00:37including past presidents. But when you speak to reporters who covered President Obama,

00:42he almost never responded to shouted questions. He just it wasn't his thing. He didn't you know,

00:47he would have his moments with world leaders and then you would leave the Oval. Trump kind of upended

00:51that when he came into the White House. And sometimes presidents are press averse. Trump

00:56embrace the media. While Collins first started covering presidents during Trump's first term,

01:02she says covering Trump is different. What might normally be low profile events can quickly turn

01:08into impromptu press conferences with Trump at the helm. It's different because Trump is such an

01:15accessible president that like if he's just swearing in the ambassador to Greece, like typically that

01:21wouldn't be a newsworthy event if President Biden or any typical president was probably doing it because

01:25Trump will swear someone in and then he'll turn to you and say, you know, any questions and he'll

01:30take maybe questions for 45 minutes. She says she even has the president's phone number during the

01:36Mar-a-Lago raid. She called him and he confirmed details directly. Collins cautions that his accessibility

01:43can be too much for some reporters. Trump doesn't sleep. And that means reporters sometimes don't

01:50either. He like does not sleep. I had this source who said, you never want to be on Air Force One on

01:57a trip. And I said, why? Like you'd think you want to be in the axis of power or close to Trump.

02:02He doesn't sleep on these trips. And you know, you're just, you're not going to sleep on that flight.

02:07Data backs up Collins points. A graph from the Sunday Times looks at press conferences,

02:13Q&A sessions, and interviews in the first 100 days of office. Trump spoke to journalists more in his

02:20first 100 days than any other president in history. And according to Pew Research, Trump in front of the

02:27camera more often has people more inclined to pay attention to the news. Four out of every 10 adults

02:34surveyed said they're paying more attention to political news under Trump. The relationship

02:40there between Trump and the media is a complicated one. It has been for years. He dubbed mainstream

02:46networks fake news in his first administration, even putting Collins and CNN under that same umbrella.

02:54And immediately in his second term, his White House limited the Associated Press's access

03:00to the Oval Office in February after a Gulf of America naming dispute with the AP.

03:07The AP sued, claiming this was retaliation and a violation of press freedoms under the First

03:13Amendment. A federal judge ruled in April in favor of the AP, but the White House appealed.

03:20In July, the appeals court ruled the White House doesn't have to restore full access while the case

03:26continues, citing the administration's broad discretion over press credentials. The case

03:33is still ongoing with arguments scheduled for November. While that legal battle plays out,

03:39Collins says there are moments where press access is defended, as she recalled a story from her recent

03:46trip to Saudi Arabia. And Trump walked in and he kind of waved at me. And so I shouted a question to him

03:51about how the meeting had gone because it was this high stakes meeting. And right after that,

03:55the Saudi Royal Guard was like, you cannot come into the next event. And they were, you know,

04:01all like they were deeply upset that I'd asked a question and they were all kind of talking.

04:05And to Caroline Levitt's credit, she was like, no, Caitlin's coming in with the rest of the U.S.

04:09press. And so I went into the next event. Press access is like key in every administration,

04:14I think, should protect that. So while Trump may be the most accessible president to the press,

04:20press freedoms are still being fought over in court with his administration at the center.

04:26Thanks for watching our news update. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kara Rucker.

04:30For more stories that matter to you, download the SAN mobile app today.

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