At the very same time that US President-elect Donald Trump was holding his first press conference in six months, a confirmation hearing for US Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson was going on,
At the hearing, US Sen. Marco Rubio asked Tillerson a wide-range of questions, among them, on Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's Philippine drug war and alleged human rights violations as reported in The Los Angeles Times.
Tillerson's response
Tillerson: The USA and the people of the Philippines have a long standing friendship, and I think it's important that we keep that in perspective in engaging with the government of the Philippines. That long-standing friendship, and they have been an ally, and we need to ensure that they stay an ally.
Sen. Rubio: That's correct, Mr. Tillerson, but my question is about the 6,200 people killed in these alleged drug raids. Do you believe that as an appropriate way to conduct an operation or do you believe that it's something that... we should be concerned about and condemning?
Tillerson: Senator, again, it's an area that I have more to understand in greater detail in terms of the facts on the ground. I'm not disputing what you're saying because you have access to information that I do not have...
Sen. Rubio: It's on The Los Angeles Times
Tillerson: Well, again am not going to rely on solely what I read in the newspapers. I will go to the facts on the ground, am sure there's good and credible information available through our various government agencies.
FAKE NEWS
At Trump's press conference, two news organizations where discredited for what Trump's press secretary called "highly salacious and flat-out false information".
"BuzzFeed is failing pile of garbage", Trump proclaimed and offered a warning. "I think they're going to suffer the consequences... they already are".
Then Trump refused to give a question to CNN reporter Jim Acosta who was repeatedly shouting a question. To him Trump said "Not you, not you. Your organization is terrible, Quiet, quiet. She's asking a question. Don't be rude. Don't be rude".
“Since you’re attacking our news organization, can you give us a question?” Acosta asked multiple times.
"No I'm not giving you a question. You are fake news", Trump responded to cheers from the audience.
CNN reported on Tuesday on what was widely known in alternative media as an unsubstantiated, unverified document purportedly compiled by a British Intelligence Officer. The news org reported that Trump and President Obama were briefed by intel chiefs on memos that claim Russian operatives have compromising personal and financial information about Trump.
BuzzFeed then released the dossier that contained unverified details of purported sexual proclivities of Trump and claims that his campaign was in contract with the Kremlin.
Trump acknowledged news organizations who did not report on the unverified dossier knowing it was "fake news".
Other news orgs have described what CNN has done as "promoting an outrageous smear".
