Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ President Donald Trump used the resignations of three CNN journalists involved in a retracted Russia-related story to resume his attack on the news channel’s credibility Tuesday. The story was about a supposed investigation into a pre-inaugural meeting between a
Trump transition team member, Anthony Scaramucci, and the head of a Russian investment fund. CNN accepted the journalists’ resignations Monday. Trump wrote in a Tuesday morning tweet, “Wow, CNN had to retract big story on ‘Russia,’ with 3 employees forced to resign. What about all the other phony stories they do? FAKE NEWS!” The story was posted on CNN’s website Thursday and was removed, with all links disabled, on Friday night. CNN immediately apologized to Scaramucci. The story’s author, Thomas Frank, was among those who resigned, according to a CNN executive who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss personnel issues. Also losing their jobs were Eric Lichtblau, an assistant managing editor in CNN’s Washington bureau, and Lex Haris, head of the investigations unit. CNN, in initially taking down the story, said it didn’t meet editorial standards. It was determined that the story was posted without going through the expected checks and balances for a story of such sensitivity, the executive said, with the failure to follow proper procedures leading to the resignations. After the retraction, Scaramucci tweeted that CNN “did the right thing. Classy move. Apology accepted. Everyone makes mistakes. Moving on.”
■ In a heartfelt speech, U2 bassist Adam Clayton thanked his bandmates of four decades for their support during his treatment for and recovery from alcohol abuse years ago, and then joined them for a rollicking rendition of a few hits. “We have a pact with each other,” said Clayton, 57, who was receiving an award from MusiCares, the charity arm of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. “In our band, no one will be a casualty. We all come home, or none of us come home. No one will be left behind. Thank you for honoring that promise and letting me be in your band.” He ended by quoting lyrics that Bono, U2’s frontman, had written when the band was starting out: “If you walk away, walk away, I will follow.” At that, his bandmates Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen joined him, performing “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” “Vertigo” and, fittingly, “I Will Follow.” Clayton described himself as an “alcohol addict,” saying he “was lucky because I had three friends who could see what was going on and who loved me enough to take up the slack of my failing.”