U.S. Edition
Today on Fareed Zakaria GPS former British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined CNN's Fareed Zakaria from Davos. Blair said that King Abdullah will be remembered for modernizing Saudi Arabia and as a force for stability in a region of chaos.
Blair on King Abdullah taking on the religious establishment: "This is a discussion I used to have with King Abdullah, and his attitude was, look, this is a, in some ways, a very conservative country. We're doing the change. But let us do it at our own pace. And you can always have a debate as to whether you should accelerate or - and go faster and so on. But what he was really trying to do, I think, was create these vehicles of change in the country. So, for example, Saudi Aramco is the oil company, not run like many oil companies around the world, but actually a really top, well run company. The university he established, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, men and women treated equally, educated equally. And the term science and technology was chosen for a reason. So I think, you know, his view would be that he was moving as fast as he could. I think it was only maybe in the '60s or '70s that Saudi television was accessible.
Full transcript after the jump. FULL POST
Today on CNN’s State of the Union, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough (Obama Administration) joined CNN host Michael Smerconish (Smerconish airs Saturday’s at 9:00amET on CNN/U.S.) to discuss the recent reported beheading of a Japanese hostage by ISIS, the power shifts in the Middle East and their effects on United States policy, as well as the nuclear negotiations with Iran and the upcoming Israeli elections and the Congressional invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
TEXT HIGHLIGHTS
On Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu: “This is the most important relationship we have in the world. This is something that ought to be and will continue to be, as far as we're concerned, above partisan politics. This is a relationship, given its importance, that stretches across many different things, from values straight through intelligence cooperation to defense and security assistance. That's the kinds of things that we will be focused on in this regard. That's why we think also we ought not get involved in their politics. That's why the president thinks it doesn't make any sense for us to meet with the prime minister two weeks before his election.”
On Iran: .”We have isolated the Iranians over the course of six years. We now have robust international multilateral sanctions in place and we have very aggressive bilateral sanctions in place. That's leading to Iran being isolated, its economy being in tatters, its ability to export and sell oil at near - near record lows. So, we're going to continue to do that. We can maintain that international unity by pressing through these last several months of negotiations. Congress should just give us the time to let those negotiations play out. It doesn't make any sense for them to prematurely act on legislation that the president will veto if it's going to risk maintaining this international unity. So, Congress should let us finish this job. “
On recent ISIS hostage situations: “We don't either negotiate or make exchanges or pay ransoms. We think that results in just more cash floating around with these very hateful characters who will just have more ability to ply their trade.”
Film Acquired as 2015 Sundance Film Festival opens, THE 414s: THE ORIGINAL TEENAGE HACKERS will debut as CNN FILMS short film series in partnership with CNN Digital Studios online
CNN Films announced today a new series of short films representing a collaboration between CNN Films and CNN Digital Studios. CNN Films makes the announcement concurrently with an acquisition of THE 414s which will have its World Premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, continuing the mission of bringing premium and distinct storytelling to CNN platforms, from some of the most talented voices in non-fiction filmmaking. These original short films directed by established and rising filmmakers will debut across CNN’s digital platforms, extending across CNN.com, CNN’s mobile properties including CNNgo, and CNN’s social footprint.
“This new venture into short-form documentary story-telling brings to fruition, our vision for a premium, multidimensional, film brand for CNN. CNN Films premieres have the ability to capture audiences across theatrical, broadcast, and now digital spaces,” said Vinnie Malhotra, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for CNN Worldwide. FULL POST
Inside Man Tops MSNBC Flagship Rachel Maddow; Delivers 276,000 in Key Demo
The season three premiere of the CNN Original Series’ Morgan Spurlock Inside Man posted its highest rated episode ever on Thursday, January 22 (9-10pm ET) in the key P25-54 demo (276,000), and in total viewers (590,000).
Inside Man ranked second in its time period easily topping MSNBC’s flagship program The Rachel Maddow Show in the demo (276k vs. 187k).
The series premiered its third season on Thursday with the episode “MorganBot,” in which the host attempts to harness the power of robots and artificial intelligence to better control his busy life.
Source: The Nielsen Company, Live+SD data. Fast National data for 1/22/15. Note: Fast National data is time period based, while historical data is program based.
Ukraine is ready to push for more sanctions against Russia, President Petro Poroshenko told CNN’s Richard Quest.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos before a meeting between Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday, Poroshenko said there was no room for negotiation.
"Everything was agreed and signed in Minsk," he said, referring to a pact signed in September with the aim of halting the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and separatist pro-Russian rebels.
Ukraine expects Russia to present a plan for implementing the agreement, which calls for an immediate ceasefire, freeing of any hostages, and the withdrawal of armed groups and military equipment from Ukrainian territory.
"The purpose of sanctions is not to hurt Russia. The purpose of sanctions is just to keep Russia to be responsible."
FULL POST
FOX NEWS HAS LOWEST SOTU PERFORMANCE SINCE 2000; MSNBC WORST IN 8 YEARS
CNN is the Only Cable News Network to Grow from Last Year’s SOTU; Up +40%
Fox News is Down -29% in the Demo and -25% in Total Viewers vs. 2014; MSNBC is Down Significantly in the Demo
According to Nielsen Fast National Data, CNN/U.S. was No. #1 in cable news during the State of the Union Address and primetime last night in the all-important key demo 25-54.
During the State of the Union Address, CNN averaged 1.068 million in the key demo, Fox News followed with 856k and MSNBC trailed with 482k. (In total viewers CNN had 2.64 million, Fox posted 3.52m and MSNBC had 2.01m.) FULL POST
Petra Malenicka is taking a new role at CNN International, expanding on her previous responsibility for Western Europe advertising sales.
Effective immediately, Malenicka is now promoted to Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, Europe and the Americas. In this expanded position, Malenicka combines leadership of CNN’s Western Europe advertising sales operations with additional responsibility for CNN International sales for North America and oversight of global advertising opportunities generated from Latin America. This position will enable Malenicka to deliver an even greater range of client solutions across multiple CNN platforms such as CNN International, CNN en Espanol and CNN US.
This appointment follows Malenicka’s leadership of CNN’s Western Europe advertising sales since 2013. In that time, her teams across Switzerland, France, UK, Germany, Austria, Benelux and Nordics have identified client needs to nurture existing relationships and work closely with advertisers and sponsors new to CNN International.
CNN International, the world’s leader in international news, and McLaren Technology Group announced today that CNN is confirmed as a new McLaren-Honda partner for the 2015 Formula 1 season and beyond.
President Obama's sixth State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 20 will launch Season Two of Peter Hamby’s Hambycast. Streaming live on CNN.com beginning at 8:30 p.m. Hamby and special guests, Emily’s List Communications Director Jess McIntosh, America Rising's Executive Director Tim Miller, and American Bridge 21st Century's President Rodell Mollineau, will offer commentary throughout the speech, their own brand of off-the-cuff analysis, and decipher the stand-up/sit-down politics of the evening.
Keep an eye out for additional guests and CNN correspondents who will join the conversation by calling in to the Hambycast Hotline, and join in on Twitter by using the #Hambycast hashtag.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and president of the Senate Conservatives Fund Ken Cuccinelli joined CNN's Jim Sciutto on State of the Union today to discuss President Obama's tax proposal and Mitt Romney's presidential bid in 2016. In the interview, Rep. Chaffetz says Obama tax plan is a "non-starter. We're not just one good tax increase away from prosperity in this nation." While Chaffetz thinks Romney is "seriously considering" a presidential bid, Cuccinelli still thinks that Romney "wasn't an inspirational character" last election. Full transcript of the interview is available after the jump.
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