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CNN issued a statement Thursday morning denying that it had asked a shooting survivor to ask a "scripted question" at the CNN Town Hall on guns on Wednesday evening in Sunrise, Florida.February 23 Update:
On Wednesday evening, junior Colton Haab, a survivor of last week's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, told local Fort Lauderdale ABC affiliate WPLG that CNN had invited him to appear at the town hall, but he had withdrawn after being asked to recite a "scripted" question.
On Thursday morning, CNN public relations issued a statement denying that anyone had been given a "scripted" question, and inviting Colton Haab to appear on air:There is absolutely no truth to this. CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night's town hall, nor have we ever.The CNN Town Hall was stacked heavily in favor of gun control, and speakers were carefully selected. CNN chose, for example, to highlight Emma Gonzalez, a student who has spoken at rallies since the shooting and who has blasted President Donald Trump. Gonzalez was seen clutching a piece of paper as she asked a question of National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch.
After seeing an interview with Colton Haab, we invited him to participate in our town hall along with other students and administrators from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Colton's father withdrew his name from participation before the forum began, which we regretted but respected. We welcome Colton to join us on CNN today to discuss his views on school safety.
Gonzalez attacked Loesch as a mother, telling her, "We will support your two children in a way that you will not."
Haab said watched some of the CNN town hall but turned it off because he "knew" it was going to be "scripted."
"I watched a little bit of it. I kind of felt like I didn't really need to because I knew as soon as what had happened with me that it was going to be more scripted and wasn't actually going to be actual questions. Then I didn't feel the need to fully watch it," he told Carlson.
"So if CNN was willing to re-word your question, put their own words in your mouth, and as you said you didn't want to go along with that, do you think they did that to other people last night?" Carlson asked.
"Absolutely, from what I did see, I seen a couple people that had asked questions before I did leave my house. And it was a little piece of paper cut out. And I know for a fact that nobody cut their own paper out and wrote their own question. Especially when they were all based off the same topic. So, to me, it from right there it showed this isn't correct. Why do they all have the same size piece of paper with a short little question on it? So, to me it was a total waste of my time, honestly," Haab said.

What Sorkin is suggesting is more of the same, although perhaps with worse consequences. If banks take action where policymakers do not or cannot, they are essentially putting themselves above the law. And if banks start playing that role, where does it end?
What if, for example, banks and credit card companies decided to stop processing payments for any retail purchase of cigarettes? After all, cigarettes are demonstrably bad for all consumers, and secondhand smoke can harm innocent people. Should banks step in to help protect society at large?
Or what if banks decided to stop processing payments for abortion clinics because they believed the practice was immoral? Is it fair for financial institutions to make abortion effectively illegal? What if President Trump called on financial firms to cut off access to environmental groups he believed were delaying projects that could bring jobs to local economies? Maybe banks should freeze Colin Kaepernick's checking account until he stops kneeling during the national anthem?
Many of these examples are extreme, but you get my point. Just because banks can be used to have a dramatic impact on our society doesn't mean they should be.
- From the American Banker piece: Call for Bank Crackdown on Gun Sales Is Deeply Misguided
Comment: Rather clever of the Russian police!
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