CNN Kept Off Air Force One for Trump's Trip to Tennessee Football Game

CNN was left off Air Force One on Saturday when President Donald Trump flew to Knoxville for the University of Tennessee's football game against the University of Texas, despite being scheduled to travel as part of the television press pool.

The network video pool, set up decades ago through the White House Correspondents' Association, rotates duties among five major broadcasters so that one crew can film the president and share the footage with all other outlets. CNN had been assigned the rotation for the trip.

A different outlet on board

Instead, the White House brought along Real America's Voice, a conservative outlet that is not a member of the pool. A correspondent for the network said on air that CNN was absent and that her outlet had taken over the responsibility.

The exclusion came days after the administration tried to revoke White House credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. A federal judge temporarily blocked that move on Thursday, restoring the outlets' access to the White House grounds, but the order did not directly address pool assignments or travel on Air Force One.

Escalating clash with the press

In a social media post, the president wrote that "fake news" should not be allowed in the White House. The White House did not respond to requests for comment about the flight, and CNN covered the episode in its own reporting rather than issuing a statement.

When the ban was first announced, other pool members showed solidarity by declining to take part. Throughout his second term, the president has increasingly targeted news organizations whose coverage he considers unfair.

Sources: PBS News / AP