CNN’s Anderson Cooper takes on Debbie Wasserman Schultz



http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80088.html
















By KATIE GLUECK
8/24/12 9:59 AM EDT
Updated: 8/24/12 3:40 PM EDT









Debbie Wasserman Schultz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper
engaged in a heated exchange Thursday night when Cooper charged that
the Florida congresswoman “misquoted” the Los Angeles Times in a letter
that the anchor also said misrepresented Mitt Romney’s stance on the
Republican Party’s abortion platform plank.The segment,
which has gone viral in the conservative blogosphere, features Cooper,
on his CNN show “Anderson Cooper 360,” pointing to a fundraising email
Wasserman Schultz signed. He said that a quote she used from the Los
Angeles Times in the appeal was taken “completely out of context.”

“The DNC chairwoman calls out Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan
for saying they don’t entirely agree with that plank,” Cooper said.
“And here’s how she backs it up…’But guess what? ‘The Los Angeles Times’
reported yesterday that the platform was, and I quote, ‘written at the
direction of Romney’s campaign.’
But Cooper said the quote “was ripped, in fact, out of a sentence,” saying that the real piece read,
“Delegates for presumptive nominee Mitt Romney are voting down
substantive changes to the platform language that was written at the
direction of Romney’s campaign.”
“Do you at least acknowledge that the quote that you gave from “The
L.A. Times” is completely incorrect?” Cooper asked, after a
back-and-forth over Romney’s record on allowing for abortions in certain
instances, like rape.
“No, I don’t acknowledge that. I know that is what you’re saying,”
Wasserman Schultz shot back. When he started to read the quote, she
interrupted, “Anderson, what I’m saying is, it doesn’t matter.”
“I think what you say does matter,” he said. “You’re quoting the LA
Times and, again, you’ve misquoted them to back up a position.”
Wasserman Schultz said that the point of the fundraising email was to
highlight Romney’s connection to his party’s platform ban on abortion,
which doesn’t specifically designate exceptions for victims of rape or
incest.
“There’s no way a presidential candidate can separate himself from that party’s platform,” she said.


Cooper challenged her assertion there, too, but the most fiery
moments of the segment centered on the question of the quote from the
Los Angeles Times.
“Just as you don’t like being misquoted, I don’t like being
misquoted, I’m sure the LA Times doesn’t like being misquoted to back up
your political position,” Cooper said. “I don’t understand why you’d
need to do that.”