CNN host laughs out loud at guest who said Trump had permission from Biden to call Putin

16 October 2024

CNN host Jim Acosta couldn't contain his laughter when a conservative commentator suggested that former President Donald Trump may have been given a green light by President Joe Biden's administration to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During a Wednesday segment, Acosta interviewed GOP lobbyist David Urban and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton about the new revelations that Trump had as many as seven private calls with Putin after he left office in 2021. The segment began with a clip of journalist Bob Woodward — author of the new book "War" — recounting how he learned of Trump's friendly calls with the Russian dictator as a private citizen.

Despite Woodward's reporting, Urban insisted that Trump had been "tough" on Russia during his administration, citing the stationing of U.S. Marines in Norway to shore up the NATO ally's defenses. He also argued that Russia didn't invade Ukraine until 2022, a year after Biden replaced Trump in the White House.

At that point, Acosta interrupted Urban to remind him that during Trump and Putin's 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland, the former president sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies on the issue of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Urban conceded that he would have chosen to rely on U.S. intelligence over Putin, and Acosta insisted it was "hyperbolic" for Urban to claim Trump's administration was the toughest administration "in history" when it came to Russia.

Leighton weighed in during the exchange, and told Urban that the reason Putin didn't invade Ukraine during the Trump administration was because "they were already there," in reference to Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. That invasion was widely condemned by both the U.S. and the international community and resulted in Russia's expulsion from the G8 (now G7).

"You're absolutely right colonel, they did not go in further," Urban countered, before Acosta redirected him to the original question.

"I do think we started the segment asking you, David, you know, what's he doing talking to Vladimir Putin? I mean, he didn't deny it I guess, so what does that tell you?" Acosta asked.

Urban then said he didn't know "the details" of the conversations and that it could be that Trump is warning Putin to not go further into Ukraine. That prompted Leighton to interject, saying: "Oh bull."

"There is one commander-in-chief at a time. For a former president to do this kind of stuff, to talk to Putin or any rival of the United States when he is not the commander-in-chief is actually illegal," Leighton said. This is a reference to the Logan Act, which prevents any private citizen from talking to foreign governments without obtaining prior clearance from the sitting administration. Urban responded that "maybe Donald Trump was given the green light by the CIA." Acosta then cut in, asked Urban if he truly believed that, and chuckled when Urban doubled down.

"OK David. I don't know about that," Acosta said, as he and Leighton both laughed.

Watch the segment below, or by clicking this link.

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