Cable news ratings; Tapper rises outside of hard news; Faulkner misleads a grieving mother

CNN's Jake Tapper helmed an extensive and candid interview with Bill Maher, during which he pressed the Real Time host on former President Donald Trump, anti-transgender jokes, and other hot topics.
The interview aired in full on Tuesday night, while CNN had previewed certain clips in the days leading up to the release.
Tapper asked Maher about the accurate prediction he made years ago that Trump would not peacefully leave the White House if he lost in 2020.
Maher later told Tapper that he still worries Trump will send him to Gitmo prison, also guessing that Trump, who is running for reelection in 2024, wants to become an authoritarian leader.
Tapper made sure to discuss comedy and cancel culture with the Real Time host. He confronted Maher with fellow comic David Cross’s comments slamming anti-trans humor and challenged his take on the cancel culture debate.
Tapper conducted an impressive interview in a space outside his typical hard news beat -- and even got Maher to reveal that his producers “weeded out” audience members who might audibly disagree with him during his show.

Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner on Thursday interviewed bereaved mother Rebecca Kiessling, who testified before Congress this week about the tragic loss of her two sons to fentanyl.

The interview though, took a political turn as Faulkner played a clip from a speech by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, in which the president roasted controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who blamed him for the death of Kiessling’s sons.
Biden, speaking at a gathering of Democrats at the Maryland governor’s mansion, took a swipe at Greene, saying, “And you know, a little bit more Marjorie Taylor Greene and a few more, you’re gonna have a lot of Republicans running our way.”
After the applause, Biden, joked, “Isn’t she amazing? Oof.” Biden then recalled how Greene blamed him for the death of the two young men, a clip Faulkner played for Kiessling – although omitted the context regarding Greene.
Speaking to a now crying Kiessling, Faulkner implied Biden was laughing about the deaths, prompting Kiessling to call Biden a "horrible human being."
Faulkner not only misrepresented Biden's words and intentions, but she essentially used a grieving mother to push a political agenda.