CNN

Don Lemon's as ready as he can be for nuclear war, but it seems sort of pointless ... because he's not even on his own list of who'll make it out alive.

Our photog got the "CNN Tonight" host at LAX Thursday and asked if his network prepares them for the world going nuclear -- who knew? It does ... sort of.

Don says CNN holds training classes every couple of years and the office is stocked with survival packs.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders went on the attack over "fake news" -- citing the CNN debacle -- then got raked over the coals by a White House reporter.

The Deputy White House Press Secretary chastised CNN over its retracted story ... which connected a Trump aide to a Russian investment fund. She started attacking the media in general too, and that's when The Sentinel reporter Brian Karem went off.

Piers Morgan's not bashing CNN for going after huge ratings with stories about President Trump and Russia, but thinks their Prez-bashing is dangerous journalism ... and led to embarrassment.

Piers, Editor-at-Large of Dailymail.com, tells TMZ he's not surprised CNN is now in trouble over an undercover vid coming out suggesting its Trump/Russia coverage is BS ... because they've been pushing the narrative too hard for too long.

This video clip is swirling around ... showing a CNN supervising producer saying the network's coverage of the Russia/Trump investigation is "mostly bulls***" but it's being covered to death for ratings.

John Bonifield, CNN's supervising producer of the network's health unit, is caught on undercover video saying the network is getting great ratings from trying to tie the Trump Administration to the Russian interference in the election.

Bonifield says CNN doesn't have the goods, but it's nonstop coverage is all about attracting viewers.

The video was produced by James O'Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, a super conservative blog.

Don Lemon is torn over Megyn Kelly's controversial interview with radio host Alex Jones -- but ultimately seems to think he's not worth the airtime.

We got the CNN anchor at LAX and asked what he thought about the backlash against Megyn for interviewing the Infowars host ... who's theorized the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.

Some parents of victims are blasting Megyn, and lobbying NBC to yank the interview. Don, at first, had Megyn's back ... saying sometimes journalists have to go to "dark places."

On a personal level though ... Don dismisses Jones as a total phony who doesn't deserve a platform.

Larry King's not down with everyone piling on Kathy Griffin for her Trump beheading photo fiasco ... especially his old bosses at CNN.

Larry, formerly Mr. CNN, took the network to task Thursday at LAX. He admits his friend Kathy's photo was in "terrible taste" ... but believes it didn't rise to the level of a fireable offense.

He believes her apology should've been enough for CNN to let it go. It's also very clear Larry's pining for the old days at CNN when someone else had the reins.

One of Fox News' most outspoken Donald Trump supporters is giving major props to CNN for firing Kathy Griffin.

We got Judge Jeanine Pirro Wednesday in NYC, where she told us CNN firing Kathy over her Trump beheading stunt was supremely appropriate -- adding Kathy's lucky if she's not facing criminal charges.

Most people agree with Jeanine -- normalizing violence toward the President is wrong, no matter which Prez is in the Oval.

It's Kathy Griffin who's been cut off ... by CNN, because she was just fired by the network, which means she will not ring in 2018 with Anderson Cooper.

The network is reacting to the photo of Kathy holding a bloody, beheaded image of Donald Trump. Her apology clearly wasn't enough for CNN.

As we reported, Anderson Cooper also lashed out at his former co-host and friend, saying, "For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate."

Griffin did the New Year's Eve special since 2007.

Don Lemon firmly believes President Trump is the reason Greg Gianforte body slammed a reporter -- and he flipped out on the air when someone dared to disagree with him.

Lemon had a panel on his show Wednesday night, and immediately stated HIS take on the Montana politician ... and clearly expected/wanted political commentator Paris Dennard to agree.

When Paris stood his ground ... Lemon went into such an attack mode, it's downright ironic.

At least this was just a verbal body slam.

Don Lemon is out there again ... this time he decided to have someone stick a needle in his ear during CNN's live NYE broadcast.

The CNN anchor was in New Orleans, and just before midnight, some dude with a mask did the dirty work. It's painful to watch.

CNN'S political commentator Angela Rye has major beef with TSA after a pat down she says went way over the line of decency, and might even be criminal.

Angela came on "TMZ Live" to explain why she ended up in tears after the incident in the Detroit airport, telling us the agent did much more than the "backhanded pat down" she was supposed to do. Angela insists the female agent touched her genitals ... multiple times.

Video of the incident -- recorded by a police officer -- shows Angela recoil when the agent appeared to go up her dress. It's clear she was very upset at the end.

For its part, TSA says its investigating to make sure protocol was followed.

CNN political commentator Ana Navarro went nuts when a pro-Trump panelist asked her to stop using the word "pussy."

Navarro was referring to now-famous remarks Trump made to Billy Bush, when one of the panelists tried schooling her.

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo scoffed at the notion CNN is anti-Trump, despite the absence of coverage of Gov. Mike Pence's speech on the homepage of the network's website.

Our photog got Chris out Thursday after his morning show, and the anchor was strong, saying his network's coverage of the election is fair and unparalleled. He takes a shot at TMZ as a fringe player, but is still pretty gracious.

Fact is ... check out CNN's homepage first thing Thursday morning. Lots of stories about Cruz and "Donald Trump's Dreadful Night," but nothing about Pence.

Don Lemon is baffled why his remark about Ferguson "obviously" smelling like marijuana offended anyone -- but he does explain why he said it in the first place.

The CNN anchor chuckled at our photog Sunday night when we mentioned his recent guffaws -- telling a Bill Cosby rape accuser she could have avoided the situation ... and saying the Ferguson protests "obviously" smell like marijuana.

Lemon says someone had just walked past him smoking a joint ... so he just blurted out the comment. Watch ... it's obvious Don still doesn't get why the word "obvious" rubbed people the wrong way.

Don Lemon apologized for suggesting an alleged Bill Cosby rape victim should have bitten him during oral sex -- pleading he wouldn't intentionally be insensitive because he's a sexual abuse victim himself.

In case you missed it ... during Tuesday's interview Lemon suggested the woman could have prevented Cosby from allegedly forcing her to perform oral sex. It came off like he was blaming the victim and angered a lot of viewers.

Lemon revealed in 2010 that he was molested as a child.

CNN's Don Lemon thinks one of Bill Cosby's alleged victims could have thwarted any demand for oral sex by just biting down hard ... yes, it's breathtaking.

Joan Tarshis claims Cosby sexually assaulted her twice in 1969, but she scared him from having intercourse by telling him she had an infection. But she says he then forced her to perform oral sex.

So Lemon looks like the cat who ate the canary as he schools Tarshis on how she could have stopped Cosby in his tracks.

Tarshis looked puzzled as Lemon said, "You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn't want to do it."

The suggestion she wanted to do it is just appalling, particularly since Tarshis claims she was stoned.