Mornings on the Mall

Monday, April 27, 2020

Hosts: Vince Coglianese and Mary Walter

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Joe diGenova, Mark Morgan, Josh Kraushaar and Gordon Chang joined WMAL on Monday!

5am – A/B/C IS KIM JUNG UN DEAD OR NOT?

• TMZ: North Korea’s Supreme Leader/dictator Kim Jong-un has reportedly died, or is on his death bed with no hope for recuperation, according to media outlets in China and Japan. North Korea’s Supreme Leader/dictator Kim Jong-un has reportedly died, or is on his death bed with no hope for recuperation — according to media outlets in China and Japan. Amid reports China has sent a medical team to their communist neighbors this week to check in/advise on Kim, a Hong Kong-backed news channel’s vice director — who’s apparently the niece of a Chinese foreign minister — blasted out the news herself … he’s dead. TMZ has not confirmed that. The woman put the report on a social media app called Weibo for her nearly 15 million followers to read, citing a “very solid source” about the claim Kim had, in fact, perished. A Japanese magazine reports he’s in a “vegetative state” after a heart surgery gone wrong.
• If rumours of Kim Jong-un’s health are true, his sister will take over. There is also a lot of conjecture about the role of Kim Yo-jong, the leader’s sister. She would be the obvious stand-in if he were to be incapacitated for a period. Not only is she from the “Paektu blood line” of the Kim dynasty; she has emerged as the most important member of the regime after him. (via The Independent)
• China has dispatched a team to North Korea, including medical experts, to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – China has dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to three people familiar with the situation. The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean leader. Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signaled in terms of Kim’s health. A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea.
• Amid mounting speculation, South Korea says Kim Jong Un is ‘alive and well.’ (CNN) South Korea continued to pour water on mounting speculation about the health of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, telling CNN he is “alive and well.” “Our government position is firm,” Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told CNN. “Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”  Questions were raised about Kim’s well-being after he missed the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday on April 15. He had been seen four days before that at a politburo meeting, according to North Korean state media, KCNA.

• Defense chief says N. Korean military plane activities on ‘unusual’ rise. SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) — North Korea has shown an “unusual increase” in inspecting its artillery’s readiness and carrying out air force flight operations, heightening tensions in the region, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Friday. The South Korean defense chief made the remark in a congratulatory message for a commissioning ceremony of medical and veterinary officers, noting that the North has been concentrating on its weapons development while remaining unresponsive to offers for talks. “North Korea … has been heightening military tensions through an unusual increase in the inspection activities for its combat readiness posture, mostly of its artillery, and in its air force planes’ flight operations,” he said.
• North Korean media offers Kim Jong Un letter as proof he’s still alive. (NYPost) – With rumors swirling about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a state-run newspaper tried to prove the despot is alive and well by reporting that he has sent a thank-you letter to builders in a seaside resort. The Rodong Sinmun outlet claimed Monday that Kim penned the message to builders working on a tourism project in Wonsan, where South Korea believes the leader has been staying since April 13, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. “Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has sent his appreciation to the workers who devoted themselves to building the Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone,” the Rodong Sinmun reported. The Korean Central Broadcasting Station made a similar report, according to Yonhap.

5am – D         MIKE FLYNN TO BE EXONERATED THIS WEEK?

• Flynn Exculpatory Evidence:  Lawyer Sidney Powell: The government just provided the #Flynn defense with remarkable new & long withheld BRADY evidence. Letter below just filed.  Stay tuned.
• The Federalist: Newly Filed Court Documents Include Exculpatory. For Michael Flynn. New documents filed under seal in federal court include exculpatory information about former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, an FBI official told The Federalist on Friday.
• The Daily Wire: Flynn To Be ‘Completely Exonerated This Week’, AG Barr Has Directed U.S. Attorney To Review FBI Personnel ‘Communications And Notes’, Reports Say. Judicial Watch: FBI Knew McCain Leaked Steele Dossier, Now Blames Coronavirus For Not Releasing Documents
• Maria Bartiromo @MariaBartiromo: Breaking News: sources tell me @GenFlynn will be completely exonerated this week.  It was a total fraud.  A Set up.  More tomorrow @MorningsMaria

5am – E         Media erupt over Trump comments on disinfectant and sunlight to cure coronavirus: (Fox News) – President Trump, in his White House coronavirus task force briefing Thursday, appeared to suggest that light and disinfectants might have the potential to treat the coronavirus — prompting a number of stories condemning the comments, others seeking to defend the president and a scathing tweet from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The comments even prompted a statement from Reckitt Benckiser Group, the makers of Lysol, warning against improper use of disinfectant products. “As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” the company said. “As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information.”

• Here’s what Trump said in his briefing exchanges with his administration experts and reporters.
  • Initial comments: After Bill Bryan, the head of the science and technology directorate at the Department of Homeland Security, presented the findings of the federal government’s study on sunlight, humidity and temperature’s effect on the coronavirus — as well as various disinfectants on the virus when it is on surfaces — Trump reacted to the comments. “Question that probably some of you are thinking of if you’re totally into that world, which I find to be very interesting. So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light. And I think you said that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it,” Trump said, looking over to Bryan.
  • “And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re gonna test that, too. Sounds interesting, right?”
  • He continued: “And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets on the lungs and it does a tremendous number, so it will be interesting to check that. So that you’re going to have to use medical doctors. But it sounds, it sounds interesting to me. So we’ll see.
  • “But the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that’s, that’s pretty powerful.”
  • Follow-up question: After Trump’s initial comments, in which he did suggest there might be a way to “do something like that by injection inside or, or almost a cleaning” after changing the topic from light to disinfectants but made clear it was not a definitive recommendation and said “medical doctors” should be involved in any tests, a reporter asked Bryan to clarify what the president said. “The president mentioned the idea of a cleaner. Is the bleach and isopropyl alcohol he mentioned, there’s no scenario that could be injected into a person, is there?” the reporter asked.
  • “No, I’m here to talk about the findings that we had in the study. We don’t do that within that lab, at our labs,” Bryan responded.
  • Trump then jumped in with further comments. “We’re talking about almost a latent sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work, but it certainly has a big effect if it’s on a stationary object,” Trump said, not explicitly disavowing the possibility using disinfectants to treat humans, which has been roundly declared dangerous by medical experts and makers of such products.
  • Subsequent comments: After multiple questions on other topics, Trump then turned a query from a reporter about why places like Florida, which have higher heat and humidity than other parts of the country, are still seeing significant numbers of coronavirus cases to the topic of potentially treating people. “I mean, there’s been a rumor that, you know, a very nice rumor that you go outside in the sun or you have heat and it does have an effect on other viruses,” Trump said referencing previous speculation that factors like heat, light and humidity in the summer could lead to a decrease — though not an entire stoppage — in coronavirus cases.
• Birx: Media ‘Very Slicey and Dicey’ with Coronavirus Headlines. Saturday on Fox News Channel’s “Watters World,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx criticized the media’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, questioning the headlines the media were using. Host Jesse Watters asked, “You probably never imagined you would be doing this much television. You are doing network, you’re doing cable, you’re print, you are there every day doing these press briefings. Do you believe the media has been fair throughout’s pandemic?” Birx said, “I think the media is very slicey and dicey about how they put sentences together in order to create headlines.” She continued, “We know for millennials in other studies that some people may only read the headlines. And if there’s not a graphic, they’re not going to look any further than that.” Birx added, “I think we have to be responsible about our headlines. I think often, the reporting may be accurate in paragraph three, four, and five. But I’m not sure how many people actually get to paragraph three, four, and five. And I think the responsibility that the press has is to really ensure that the headlines reflect the science and data that is in their piece itself.”

6am – A         New Jersey allows renters to use security deposits to pay rent. NEW JERSEY (WABC) — Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order Friday allowing renters and homeowners to use their security deposits to pay rent — whether that be to make up for a shortfall or to pay it in full — amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We recognize the anxiety that so many feel about looming mortgage and rent payments, especially with May first a week away,” Murphy said. The order is for money that had been paid up front to secure a lease, Murphy stated, and renters should have the ability to tap the deposit to help them secure their place in their home. “I wish to specifically acknowledge assemblywoman Britnee Timberlake for her advocacy on this issue,” the governor said. Murphy said he understands renters and landlords may have questions, so the state is providing information on their COVID-19 website. “Everyone will have access to the same information, so there can be no more misunderstandings and so everyone understands our expectations of them during this time,” Murphy said. “As we work on these issues, I wish to thank the New Jersey Apartment Association for their support and assistance. For New Jerseyans fortunate enough to pay their rent or mortgage, Gov. Murphy says “please do, so that allows us to best help those who cannot.”

6am – B/C     VIRGINIA’S MIXED MESSAGES:

• Top Virginia health official warns state lockdown could be ‘two-year affair.’ (Washington Examiner) – Virginians hoping for a quick restart of normal life may be in for a rude awakening after the top health official in Virginia said the state could be in lockdown for the next two years. During a Friday afternoon briefing on the coronavirus response, Virginia Health Commissioner Norman Oliver said Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s “Phase One” coronavirus response plan, which involves business closures and social distancing, could last for as long as two years. “I, personally, think Phase One will be a two-year affair,” Oliver said. “There are a lot of people working on this, and I hope they prove me wrong, but I don’t see it happening in less than two years.” A Virginia Department of Health representative immediately attempted to walk back Oliver’s comments, suggesting that Oliver meant the coronavirus will be with Virginians for two years and not that state-mandated lockdowns would continue that long.
• UPDATE: Governor’s office says ‘Phase One’ of reopening Virginia ‘will not last for two years.’ (Richmond.com) Saturday morning, the Health Department clarified Oliver’s statements, saying that producing a vaccine, a process that can take 12-18 months to be developed and tested, could take two years — not Phase One. Without a vaccine or treatment, the health department said public health experts will have to monitor and contain the coronavirus through testing, contact tracing — figuring out who a COVID-19 positive patient has been in contact with — and quarantining those affected. “In the meantime we can safely ease restrictions in a phased approach,” said a VDH spokesperson on Saturday. “Although we have no expectation that Phase One of this approach will last two years, some level of social distancing will have to continue until we have a treatment or a vaccine for the disease.” State officials said Friday that Phase One will begin once Virginia sees a decline in both the percentages of positive cases per day and hospitalizations for a consecutive 14 days and the state increases protective equipment supply and health care capacity. In Phase One, some businesses would remain closed, added state officials, while others would reopen under restrictions to guarantee safety. States, such as Georgia and Alaska, opening businesses in the next few days have received backlash from experts saying it could leave to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. “Phase One will not last for two years,” said the governor’s office on Saturday. “We need to keep working together to beat this disease — not spread fear and misinformation.”

6am – D/E/F  TARA READE:

• Clip surfaces of Biden accuser Tara Reade’s mother phoning into ‘Larry King Live’ in 1993 alluding to claim | Fox News. A resurfaced clip of “Larry King Live” from 1993 appears to include the mother of Tara Reade — who has accused Joe Biden of past sexual assault while in the Senate — alluding to “problems” her daughter faced while working as a staffer for the then-U.S. senator from Delaware. In a telephone interview with Fox News on Friday night, Reade confirmed that her mother called in to the show. Biden’s presidential campaign has adamantly denied Reade’s allegations but the video could be cited as evidence supporting Reade’s allegation – even though her late mother, in the clip, does not specifically refer to a sexual assault claim. The Intercept on Friday first reported the transcript of a broadcast from Aug. 11, 1993, of a woman from San Luis Obispo County, Calif., calling in to the show about her daughter’s experience on Capitol Hill. “San Luis Obispo, California, hello,” King begins. “Yes, hello. I’m wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington? My daughter has just left there, after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him,” the caller says. “In other words, she had a story to tell but, out of respect for the person she worked for, she didn’t tell it?” King inquires. “That’s true,” the woman responds before King cuts away to a panel to discuss her claim.
• CNN finally covers Larry King clip in which Biden accuser’s mother purportedly alludes to daughter’s sexual assault. (Fox News) – After criticism from media critics and the Republican National Committee (RNC), the liberal network CNN finally broke its silence on its own footage purportedly showing the mother of Tara Reade, who accused former Vice President Joe Biden of sexual assault, alluding to the alleged incident. Tucked away among hundreds of thousands of hours of old archived footage was the long-forgotten clip that came to light Friday. But rather than CNN’s team of investigative reporters, it was the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters, a conservative group that seeks to expose liberal bias, that exhumed the footage from its own vault. CNN has largely ignored Reade’s claims, drawing criticism from media watchdogs that often contrast it with how the liberal network handled allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh with hundreds of stories and countless segments. CNN finally published its first story on Reade’s claims on April 17, weeks after they were made, when correspondent MJ Lee framed the story as Democratic leaders and allies of Biden being “asked to respond to an allegation” against the 2020 Democratic frontrunner.
• ‘I Want The Same Equal Treatment’: Biden Accuser Tara Reade Tears Into Media, Women’s Groups, Democratic Politicians (Daily Caller) – Tara Reade condemned the media’s silence regarding her sexual assault allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation and demanded equal treatment as “other survivors” like Christine Blasey Ford. 56-year-old Reade lamented that her sexual assault accusation has become a “partisan tool,” saying that Republicans have weaponized her and Democrats have both ignored and discredited her.
• Tara Reade claims a “political agenda” is playing a role in what she feels is underreporting by some media outlets on her allegations. She thinks shows like Anderson Cooper’s have a “blatant bias.”
• Tara Reade condemns Democratic and media silence, demanding equal treatment to “other survivors” like Christine Ford. “I’m sorry that I’m politically inconvenient but my perpetrator was Joe Biden,” she told me. “And people need to deal with it.”
• Former Hillary Adviser Peter Daou Calls Biden To Drop Out: ‘We Lose All Moral Authority’ If We Don’t Take Tara Reade Seriously. (Daily Caller) Peter Daou called Saturday for former vice president and presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden to drop out of the race. Citing new evidence of possible sexual misconduct, Daou — who had previously advised both former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry — argued that the party could not afford for Biden to not take the accusations of former aide Tara Reade seriously. Daou began by saying that “BIDEN SHOULD WITHDRAW,” noting that, while he respected the will of the American people, “Credible rape accusations are disqualifying or we have NO moral standards.”
• VA. LT GOV. JUSTIN FAIRFAX RIPS JOAN WALSH FOR DOUBTING TARA READE BUT INSTANTLY CALLING FOR FAIRFAX’S RESIGNATION…JUSTIN FAIRFAX: Amazing how that happens, @joanwalsh. You *immediately* assumed the guilt of the second Black statewide elected official in Virginia’s 400-Year history & called on me to resign within hours of a *press release* with no investigation, facts, evidence or #dueprocess. #Hypocrisy

7am – A         INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia

• NY TIMES: Durham Inquiry Includes Scrutiny of a Media Leak. The attorney general has suggested that the Justice Department review of the Russia investigation has uncovered “troubling” findings without going into details.
• Flynn To Be ‘Completely Exonerated This Week’: Maria Bartiromo @MariaBartiromo: Breaking News: sources tell me @GenFlynn will be completely exonerated this week.  It was a total fraud.  A Set up.  More tomorrow @MorningsMaria
• Newly Filed Court Documents Include Exculpatory Information About Michael Flynn. New documents filed under seal in federal court include exculpatory information about former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, an FBI official told The Federalist on Friday. According to the FBI official who spoke to The Federalist, FBI general counsel Dana Boente led the charge internally against DOJ’s disclosure of the new materials. Boente, who briefly served as acting Attorney General after Trump became president, personally signed off on one of the federal spy warrants against former Trump campaign affiliate Carter Page. The new documents, which were filed under a protective order by DOJ on Friday, will reflect poorly on the FBI, the official told The Federalist. It is not clear when, or even if, those documents will be unsealed and made available to the public for review.

7am – B/C     QUARANTINE FATIGUE:

• WAPO: ‘Quarantine fatigue’: Researchers find more Americans venturing out against coronavirus stay-at-home orders. Researchers tracking smartphone data say they recently made a disturbing discovery: For the first time since states began implementing stay-at-home orders in mid-March to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, Americans are staying home less. The nationwide shift during the week of April 13 was relatively slight. However, any loss of momentum, particularly when stay-in-place orders remain in effect across most of the country, has some public health experts worried about “quarantine fatigue.” Any increase in travel, they say, is premature when staying home remains the most effective way to limit the spread of the virus until widespread testing and contact tracing become available. […] By April 17, the researchers found, the share of people presumed to have stayed home — meaning their phones didn’t move at least a mile that day — declined from a national average of 33 percent to 31 percent, compared with the previous Friday. That came after six weeks of the staying-home percentage increasing or holding steady. The number of work trips remained about the same. However, the average number of personal daily trips grew to 2.5 per person, up from 2.4 the previous Friday — a 4 percent increase. Trips between counties and states also increased. Because the study’s sample size is so large — more than 100 million cellphones observed monthly — even slight changes are statistically significant, Zhang said.
• DR. SCOTT ATLAS, former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center: The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation. (The Hill)  Leaders must examine accumulated data to see what has actually happened, rather than keep emphasizing hypothetical projections; combine that empirical evidence with fundamental principles of biology established for decades; and then thoughtfully restore the country to function. […]
  • Fact 1: The overwhelming majority of people do not have any significant risk of dying from COVID-19. […]
  • Fact 2: Protecting older, at-risk people eliminates hospital overcrowding. […]
  • Fact 3: Vital population immunity is prevented by total isolation policies, prolonging the problem. […]
  • Fact 4: People are dying because other medical care is not getting done due to hypothetical projections. […]
  • Fact 5: We have a clearly defined population at risk who can be protected with targeted measures. […]
  • Let’s stop underemphasizing empirical evidence while instead doubling down on hypothetical models. Facts matter.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – MARK MORGAN – acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection – discussed President Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration and its impact for Customs and Border Protection.

• Trump signed the order Wednesday after promising Monday that he would “temporarily suspend immigration into the United States.” “In order to protect our great American workers, I’ve just signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the United States,” the president said during the coronavirus task force briefing at the White House. “This will ensure that unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens.” The order cites “the impact of foreign workers on the United States labor market, particularly in an environment of high domestic unemployment and depressed demand for labor” as a reason for the restriction — as well as pressures on health care and other factors amid the coronavirus crisis.

7am – E         AXIOS: Trump plans to cut daily coronavirus briefings: These conversations were underway before Trump suggested that researchers investigate whether doctors could cure coronavirus by injecting people with disinfectant. But a source said it finally seems to have dawned on Trump, after this incident, that these briefings aren’t helping him. The CDC and other public health officials responded obliquely to the comment by telling people not to drink bleach.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JOSH KRAUSHAAR – political editor for National Journal – discussed the 2020 politics of handling coronavirus and the media’s lack of coverage of Tara Reade.

• Biden builds early lead over Trump in battleground states. Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were critical to President Donald Trump’s 2016 win over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
• JOSH KRAUSHAAR ON TRUMP AND THE SENIOR CITIZEN VOTE: Josh Kraushaar @HotlineJosh: Sign of the times: Clinton LOST seniors by 7 points to Trump, 52-45%… Biden LEADING Trump with seniors by 9, 52-43%…. Seniors=most concerned about health > economy… that’s ballgame right there unless Trump turns things around
• Three Female Potential Biden VPs Appeared On Sunday Shows. They Were Not Asked About Tara Reade. Media largely failed to discuss 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden’s accuser Tara Reade during Sunday interviews with three different women Biden might pick to be his vice president. Former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were not asked about Reade’s allegations. (DailyCaller) – Major Sunday morning shows made no mention of Reade at all, the DCNF found: CNN’s “State of the Union,” NBC’s “Meet the Press,” ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’s “Face the Nation” and Fox’s “Fox News Sunday” did not mention Reade or her allegations against Biden.

 8am – B/C     MICHIGAN’S LITTLE DICTATOR:

• Whitmer extends Michigan’s stay-at-home order until May 15. (The Hill) – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) extended the state’s stay-at-home order to May 15 on Friday amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., while also easing some restrictions on certain businesses. Additionally, individuals are required to wear face coverings in establishments like grocery stores if they are medically able to. Whitmer also announced the easing of some restrictions so businesses are able to operate amid the pandemic. Under the new guidance, lawn service companies, landscapers, plant nurseries and bike repair shops can reopen but must follow social distancing rules. The latest order, which replaces Whitmer’s previous stay-at-home order that was set expire next week, comes after anti-lockdown protesters descended upon her home on Thursday evening.
• Michigan lawmakers move to limit Whitmer’s emergency authority, create coronavirus oversight committee. (MLive.com) – The Republican-led Michigan legislature on Friday approved measures to limit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive authority to declare a state of emergency and to create a panel to investigate the state’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. After roughly an hour of passionate debate, the Michigan Senate voted 22-15 along partisan lines to pass Senate Bills 857 and 858, which, respectively, would repeal the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act of 1945 and limit the number of days the governor can unilaterally declare a state of emergency under a separate law from 28 days to 14.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – GORDON CHANG – author of “The Coming Collapse of China.” @GordonGChang — discussed the rumors about North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un reportedly dead or seriously ill.

 8am – E         MICHAEL MOORE TURNS ON CLIMATE ACTIVISTS IN HIS NEW DOC:

• Climate Activists Want Michael Moore’s Doc Panning Green Energy Banned, Say It’s Chock Full Of Misinformation. (Daily Caller) Anti-fossil fuel activists unsuccessfully attempted to browbeat the film producer behind a Michael Moore documentary panning green energy into permanently removing the movie over claims that it contains pro-oil industry misinformation. Activist Josh Fox, climate scientist Michael Mann and other environmentalists signed onto a petition Friday asking the producer to take down “Planet of the Humans,” saying Moore’s film relies on old data to claim solar and wind energy is dependent on fossil fuels. Films for Action initially nixed the film before putting it back online, saying the move was meant to engage in debate.
• ‘PLANET OF THE HUMANS’ … HUMANS ARE THE PROBLEM, THE ‘GREEN’ MOVEMENT IS A SCAM… HOLLYWOOD REPORTER REVIEW… The doc essentially makes a feature-length argument that green energy isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, and that its supposed heroes are made of clay. The problems, we’re informed, are legion, and widespread perceptions about green solutions are sadly misinformed. You may feel good about yourself if you drive an electric car, but don’t forget that it’s recharged by energy from a power company that uses coal or natural gas. And that the battery was manufactured by a company using fossil fuels. Solar panels are great, but they mostly don’t last more than a decade or so. Renewable energy sources such as wind turbines are intermittent, leading to power outages unless they’re backed up by power generated by fossil fuels. Indeed, there are no business entities running one hundred percent on solar and wind alone. At one point in the proceedings, Gibbs goes backstage at a massive Earth Day concert, only to discover that its energy is being provided almost entirely by conventional diesel generators rather than the solar panels so prominently on display.