CNN

John Mayer destroyed Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen on CNN's New Year's Eve show ... turning them into laughing hyenas as cat butts populated his side of the screen!

John joined the 2 best friends on the broadcast from a cat cafe in Tokyo. JM never made clear why alcohol mixes with felines, but even if he did it would not have made a difference.

Anderson couldn't hold it together, as John used his deadpan humor at the Cats in the Box Cafe to render the 2 hosts unable to carry on a convo.

Maybe part of the reason is that CNN seems to have changed its "no drinking" policy because the 2 ACs were taking some pretty serious shots every hour.

Don Lemon hasn't forgotten about his clash with Nikki Haley earlier this year ... bringing it up as a way to diss her over fumbling a question about the cause of the Civil War.

The former CNN anchor is ripping Nikki for asking for grace for omitting slavery from her answer ... he says she was quick to pounce on him when he called her past "her prime" earlier this year on CNN, and didn't leave him room to ask for grace.

As you know ... Nikki is catching tons of flak for not mentioning slavery as a catalyst for the Civil War in response to a question on the presidential campaign trail.

Nikki's since backtracked, telling CNN she didn't mention slavery because she thought it was so obvious.

Don says he's glad she's clarified her remarks ... adding, "In the spirit of the season, let's see if her actions match her corrected words moving forward."

A Catholic priest came on CNN on Christmas to say Jesus was a persecuted Palestinian -- and that the story of his birth contains parallels to what's going on in the Middle East.

Father Edward Beck -- a regular contributor -- joined Monday morning's anchors to discuss the topic of how to keep faith alive this holiday season with everything going on in the world ... namely, the war between Israel and Hamas, with Palestinians caught in the middle.

He said the story of Xmas was actually one of a "Palestinian Jew" -- noting how extraordinary it is to hear those 2 words put together. Father Beck went on to say JC was born into an occupied country, and that his mother and father (Mary/Joseph) were forced to flee into Egypt as refugees ... which is technically correct, as far as the Bible's concerned.

Beck went on to say the same sort of thing is going on right now in 2023 -- and while he didn't outright come out as explicitly pro-Palestine ... that's how his remarks were perceived.

In fact, there's a lot of handwringing happening online over the suggestion that Jesus was Palestinian ... and that he might've identified more so with the current Palestinian plight over that of Israelis. As many have pointed out online, Palestine didn't even exist back then.

On the flip side, neither did the state of Israel as we currently know it ... but the one thing that's undeniable is that JC was Jewish, for whatever's that worth in this raging debate.

Father Beck has defended what he said in some back-and-forths online. Again, some took his words here to imply that Jesus was more so Palestinian/Arab than he was Jewish -- but Beck says his words are being twisted, and his larger message of peace/unity overshadowed.

He's also posted articles that reference the use of the word "Palestinian" historically -- and how it's apparently been employed to identify Muslims, Jews and others who've lived in that region dating back millennia. In other words, Father Beck's doubling down on the notion Jesus was Palestinian ... and that him also being Jewish doesn't necessarily contradict that.

Los cinéfilos han debatido durante años si "Duro De Matar" es una película navideña o no, pero ahora un experto en la materia lo aclara de una vez por todas... y dice que sí.

Jake Tapper, de la CNN, presentó al historiador de cine y autor Jeremy Arnold en su programa el otro día, y estaban allí para discutir su nuevo libro, "Christmas in the Movies" y, finalmente, Jake se refirió a la vieja pregunta: ¿es "Duro de Matar" realmente un clásico navideño?

Según Arnold, sí que lo es... pero también explica que la razón por la que algunos creen que no lo es tiene que ver con cómo se definen las películas navideñas, tradicionalmente hablando.

A pesar de ello, Arnold argumenta que "Duro De Matar" tiene todos los ingredientes de una película navideña desde el principio, empezando por el hecho de que John McClain de Bruce Willis intenta reconciliarse con su esposa, de la que está separado, y que acaba siendo el telón de fondo de todo lo que viene después.

Tapper está de acuerdo, y señala más pruebas de que la cinta suena indudablemente a Navidad, a pesar de ser obviamente una película de acción. De hecho, señala el clímax para demostrar su punto de vista. Alerta de spoiler... utiliza regalos para matar al terrorista malo, Hans.

Todo esto para decir que "Duro De Matar" tiene todos los adornos de la Navidad, aunque incrustados en un montón de violencia y frases estilosas a través de un walkie-talkie. Por supuesto, algunos todavía piensan de manera diferente.

Film buffs have debated whether 'Die Hard' is a Christmas movie or not for years -- but now, a guy who's very familiar with the art is settling it once and for all ... and he says, yea.

CNN's Jake Tapper featured film historian and author Jeremy Arnold on his show the other day, and they were there to discuss his new book -- 'Christmas in the Movies' -- and eventually JT landed on the age-old question ... is 'DH' actually a holiday classic???

According to Arnold, it absolutely is ... but he also explains that the reason some feel it isn't has to do with how they define Xmas movies, traditionally speaking.

Despite that, though, Arnold argues 'Die Hard' has all the tenets of a Christmas movie from the jump -- starting with the fact that Bruce Willis' John McClain is attempting to reconcile with his estranged wife ... that ends up being the backdrop of everything else that follows.

Tapper agrees, and he points to more evidence that 'DH' undoubtedly rings of Xmas throughout -- even though it's obviously an action flick. He actually points to the climax to make his point. Spoiler alert ... he uses presents to kill the bad guy terrorist, Hans.

All this is to say ... 'Die Hard' has all the trappings of Christmas, albeit embedded in a lot of violence and cool lines through a walkie-talkie. Of course, some still feel differently.

The sounds of Hamas hostage-taking came to life in horrifying focus, when the father of two of the victims played audio of the moment his children were taken.

CNN's Erin Burnett spoke with Ilan Regev, who had recorded a call he had with his 21-year-old daughter, Maya, just as Hamas terrorists zeroed in on them during the October 7th attack.

Maya and her 18-year-old brother, were at the music festival when gunfire erupted. You hear her scream, "Dad, they shot me. They shot me. He is killing us. Dad, he is killing us."

Ilan tells his daughter to hide, assuring her that he's coming to get her. He jumped in his car, but when he arrived on scene, he was prohibited from entering.

Los sonidos de la toma de rehenes por Hamás cobraron vida en un espeluznante momento, cuando el padre de dos de las víctimas reprodujo el audio del momento en que sus hijos fueron secuestrados.

Erin Burnett, de CNN, habló con Ilan Regev, que había grabado una llamada que mantuvo con su hija de 21 años, Maya, justo en el momento en que los terroristas de Hamás les apuntaban durante el ataque del 7 de octubre.

Maya y su hermano de 18 años, estaban en el festival de música cuando estalló el tiroteo. Se le oye gritar: "Papá, me han disparado. Me han disparado. Nos están matando. Papá, nos están matando".

Ilan le dice a su hija que se esconda, asegurándole que viene a buscarla. Saltó en su coche, pero cuando llegó a la escena, se le prohibió la entrada.

La fragilidad de la vida y la muerte en tiempos de guerra se vio reflejada en televisión cuando Clarissa Ward, de CNN, evitó por poco los cohetes de Hamás que volaron sobre su cabeza.

Clarissa y su equipo se encuentran cerca de un paso fronterizo entre Israel y Gaza, y mientras informaban el lunes sobre un reciente ataque de Hamás tuvieron que zambullirse en una zanja para evitar la artillería.

Se puede ver y oír cómo los proyectiles silban sobre ellos y explotan peligrosamente cerca.

Siguieron grabando durante el ataque y finalmente acabaron en directo en la CNN, describiendo el "aluvión masivo de cohetes" dirigidos contra su posición.

Una vez que el bombardeo se detuvo, Clarissa salió de la zanja y mostró el lugar donde Hamás recientemente había disparado contra civiles y tomando rehenes para llevarlos de vuelta a través de la frontera con Gaza.

The life-and-death nature of reporting from the frontlines in Israel is playing out on TV ... as CNN's Clarissa Ward narrowly avoids Hamas rockets flying overhead.

Clarissa and her crew are right near a border crossing between Israel and Gaza, and as they were reporting Monday on a recent Hamas attack, they had to dive into a ditch to avoid the incoming artillery.

You can see and hear the shells whistle overhead and explode dangerously close to them.

They kept recording right through the strike, and eventually ended up live on CNN, describing the "massive barrage of rockets" aimed at their position.

Once the shelling stopped, she got out of the ditch and showed the roadway where Hamas had recently driven through ... firing on civilians, and then taking hostages and driving them back across the border into Gaza.

Sharon Stone says "Basic Instinct" turned her into a sex symbol overnight -- and people wanted a piece of her, it seems ... 'cause they were crawling all over her whip!

The actress dished to CNN's Chris Wallace about the impact of that film and how it affected her celebrity at the time. As she says, she went into that weekend as a relative nobody in Hollywood ... and emerged as a massive star come Tuesday, after everyone had seen it.

Of course, what she's referring to specifically is the infamous interrogation scene ... where she flashed her vagina on camera, and which undoubtedly went down in cinematic history.

As Wallace rightly notes, that changed her life forever ... but little did we know to what extent, until now. Watch -- Sharon describes going out to run an errand the week after 'BI' was released, and says people were literally leaping at her in the streets of Los Angeles.

Not just at her person though, as SS explains ... she claims folks were dogpiling her actual car at stoplights. It got so bad, apparently, that she didn't know if she should drive away!

Now, this is far from the first time Sharon's talked "Basic Instinct" -- which she's publicly said she had mixed feelings about. At the time, she says she felt duped into the vagina moment ... allegedly having been reassured by the crew/producers that they couldn't see anything.

Donald Trump is in deeper trouble than anyone could have imagined in his classified documents case ... this after CNN aired a bombshell audio of him showing classified material he never declassified ... showing it to people who had no business seeing it.

The 45th President was taped casually chatting with his staff about "highly confidential" documents at a July 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The get-together was supposed to be centered around a writer -- also in the room -- penning a memoir about Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, but it soon devolved into a conversation about a secret plan against Iran drawn up by Defense Department General Mark Milley.

The two-minute recording, featured Monday night on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," starts off with Trump purportedly grabbing the sensitive docs and rustling them in his hands.

Trump then says, "This thing just came up." This was [Milly]. This was the Defense Department and him."

He then points out the docs are "highly confidential, secret. This is secret information ... Isn't that incredible?"

Then Trump makes an incriminating admission, stating, "See, as president, I could have declassified it, but now I can't."

A woman in the room responds, "Now we have a problem," but she then starts laughing.

In another part of the recording, Trump makes fun of Hillary Clinton and her emails scandal. One of Trump's aides begins by saying Hillary would print out her private emails all the time.

Trump answers, "No, she'd send it to Anthony Weiner." He then called Weiner a pervert, causing everyone to chuckle. Weiner, a former Democratic congressman, was convicted of transferring obscene material to a minor and sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.

James Cameron is putting the U.S. military on blast in the aftermath of the Titanic submersible disaster ... saying he knew right away the vessel imploded, and so did the military -- yet somehow, the search dragged on for days.

The "Titanic" director told CNN it didn't take him long, back on Monday morning, to gather all the facts about the missing OceanGate Titan sub -- saying it immediately had all the markings of something "catastrophic," like an implosion, had occurred on Sunday.

James says he knew it would have to be something like an implosion for the submersible's communications and navigation systems to go out at the same time -- plus, the U.S. military's microphones had picked up a sound right around the same time the sub lost contact.

While he doesn't directly call out the U.S. military ... the fact is, the U.S. Coast Guard was coordinating the search and rescue mission -- an operation James calls a "prolonged nightmarish charade" that did nothing but create "false hope."

As we reported, James also took the opportunity Thursday to point blame at the late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was the pilot for the fatal voyage ... drawing a grim comparison between the recent trip and the Titanic's tragic one-and-only travel.

Don Lemon might be able to make a return to CNN after the firing of former CEO Chris Licht ... as folks in Don's world would not be surprised if the network reaches out in the near future.

Sources familiar tell TMZ ... the potential reversal of fortune wouldn't be shocking due to the well-documented and long-standing tensions between Chris and Don.

As we reported, Chris took over as CNN's head honcho in May 2022 and clashed with Don many times about things Don said on-air, as well as an outfit choice Don made for the premiere of "CNN This Morning."

You'll recall, Don claimed he was completely blindsided by his April termination after 17 years with CNN, coyly saying ... "It is clear that there are some larger issues at play."

Many insiders saw that as a not-so-subtle way of saying Licht was fighting for his own job. Obviously, it's been less than a day since his ouster, so none of the execs at CNN have reached out to Don or his people just yet.

What's more, Amy Entelis, CNN's Executive VP for Talent and Content Development, has been tapped as one of the network's interim leaders, and she's someone Don's been close with for nearly 15 years.

Meanwhile, Don's doing exactly what he said he would ... taking the summer off from work, but we're told he's still entertaining all meetings, and is open to hearing out all options.

Chris Licht's gamble on Donald Trump has come up snake eyes -- CNN is pulling the plug on his term as CEO.

Licht's firing comes exactly one month after he engineered the network's controversial Town Hall special with the GOP Presidential front-runner. Licht made a play for Trump's base, and did draw more than 3 million viewers that night ... but the blowback from CNN's viewership and Democrats in D.C. was severe. The network's ratings plummeted in the days after the Trump special.

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan drew the honors Wednesday morning of announcing Licht's firing on the air. It wasn't quite a "ding dong, the wicked witch is dead" moment ... but, make no mistake, Licht had ruffled a lot of feathers at the network.

Last week, he was also the subject of a pretty unflattering profile piece in The Atlantic, and he reportedly apologized to CNN staffers earlier this week.

Licht took over at CNN in May 2022 ... after Jeff Zucker's resignation. During his tenure, he clashed several times with Don Lemon over his on-air commentary and even his wardrobe -- and Licht finally fired him back in April.

Congressman Adam Schiff tries his hand at live stand-up comedy once a year ... but he sees nothing funny about how CNN set up Donald Trump's town hall for a national audience.

The distinguished gentleman from Burbank, CA joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" and we asked him about his upcoming comedy set at The Improv in L.A.

Schiff, who's running for U.S. Senate, is hosting a fundraiser next month at the famous West Hollywood venue -- and while he'll mostly be introducing professional comics, he says he likes to mix in a few jokes of his own.

As Adam explains, he's performed full stand-up acts at his annual fundraiser in the past -- usually writing his own jokes during the cross-country flight -- and he let us in on some of his favorite material.

All jokes aside, Adam's not only eyeing the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Dianne Feinstein ... he's also paying attention to Trump's presidential campaign.

Rep. Schiff ripped CNN for this month's town hall with the former President -- although, he doesn't take issue with CNN holding the event, he strongly objects to one thing about the spectacle ... comparing it to a reality TV show.

Donald Trump's piling on CNN in the wake of his town hall by posting a doctored clip of Anderson Cooper saying Trump owned CNN during the event ... but with far more colorful language.

Trump is clearly relishing the fact CNN is getting tons of blowback from the left for giving him a platform -- and he spiked the football with this fake video of Anderson reacting to the end of the town hall. As the crowd roars for Trump, you see Anderson say "That was President Donald J. Trump ripping us a new ass****."

Put politics aside, for just a moment, and the clip is pretty hilarious. However, it's also a stark reminder of just how petty and self-congratulatory Trump can be.

Trump didn't produce the spoof -- it was uploaded by YouTube user, "Borg Clone" -- but the ex-prez clearly endorses the message ... which is that Trump's getting the last laugh on the network that hosted him.

As we reported ... Anderson Cooper, the real one, addressed the backlash against CNN by saying viewers shouldn't wall themselves off from Trump, or any politician, just because they hate their policies or personality.