CNN Suspends Novak After Tantrum

CNN suspended commentator Robert Novak indefinitely after he swore and walked off the set Thursday during a debate with Democratic operative James Carville.

The live exchange during CNN's "Inside Politics" came during a discussion of Florida's Senate campaign. CNN correspondent Ed Henry noted when it was over that he had been about to ask Novak about his role in the investigation of the leak of a CIA officer's identity.

A CNN spokeswoman, Edie Emery, called Novak's behavior "inexcusable and unacceptable." Novak apologized to CNN, and CNN was apologizing to viewers, she said.

"We've asked Mr. Novak to take some time off," she said.

A telephone message at Novak's office was not immediately returned Thursday.

Carville and Novak were both trying to speak while they were handicapping the GOP candidacy of Katherine Harris. Novak said the opposition of the Republican establishment in Florida might not be fatal for her.

"Let me just finish, James, please," Novak continued. "I know you hate to hear me, but you have to."

Carville, addressing the camera, said: "He's got to show these right wingers that he's got a backbone, you know. It's why the Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching you. Show 'em that you're tough."

"Well, I think that's bull---- and I hate that," Novak replied. "Just let it go."

As moderator Henry stepped in to ask Carville a question, Novak walked off the set.

Only two weeks ago, CNN executives defended their decision to keep Novak on the air during the ongoing probe into the revelation of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. In a July 2003 newspaper column, Novak identified Plame, the wife of administration critic and former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, as a CIA operative.

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Source: AP via WashingtonPost.com

Harris: Papers doctored makeup in photos

Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat next year, has again accused some newspapers of doctoring photos to distort her makeup as a way to poke fun at her.
In an interview on a conservative radio talk show Monday, Harris said some newspapers -- she didn't say which -- altered photos during the 2000 presidential election recount when she was Florida secretary of state.

Democratic commentators and late-night talk show hosts lampooned Harris for her liberal use of cosmetics as she took center stage in the recount.

Jay Leno quipped at the time: "They had trucks in Florida bringing the ballots to Tallahassee. In fact, it's the same trucks they used to bring the makeup to Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris."

Harris, a Republican, was asked Monday by nationally syndicated radio host Sean Hannity whether that image bothered her.

"I'm actually very sensitive about those things, and it's personally painful," she said. "But they're outrageously false. ... Whenever they made fun of my makeup, it was because the newspapers colorized my photograph."

She has made similar allegations in newspaper articles since the recount and in January told The Associated Press, "The jokes about my appearance -- it's the computer-enhanced photos."
Her campaign manager, Jim Dornan, declined to answer questions Wednesday about her radio comments.

Kenneth F. Irby, visual journalism group leader at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, said the development of digital photography in recent years has made it easier to manipulate photos. As a result, he said, newspapers have tightened their ethics policies prohibiting such practices and have fired people for making even minor changes in news images.

That makes it unlikely that newspapers did what Harris is charging, he said.

Harris oversaw the disputed 2000 ballot count that gave George W. Bush a crucial 537-vote victory in Florida.

She was elected to Congress in 2002 and re-elected last year.

Harris is vying for the Republican nomination to run for the seat held by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Florida House Speaker Allan Bense said Wednesday he won't challenge her for the GOP nod, saying he believes a campaign would take away from his commitment to the House.
The White House and other top Republicans had encouraged Bense to get into the race.

Source: AP via CNN.com