Anderson Cooper, Mythbuster: CNN Debunks Alleged Cost Of Obama’s India Trip

by Ray Rahman | 1:19 pm, November 5th, 2010

» 41 comments

President Obama‘s high-profile plan to visit India came with a high-profile number that much of the media have latched onto: $200 million. That’s the alleged daily cost according to “a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit,” a price tag that the White House has tried to deflect. Now Anderson Cooper is on the case. The verdict? It’s a “made up story.”

Cooper deconstructs how exactly the rumor went viral in the first place: one anonymous Indian reporter made the claim, The Drudge Report side of the Internet picked it up, and, suddenly, it became a fact for pundits like Rush Limbaugh and actual elected officials like Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who appeared on his program to talk about the matter just last night. But Cooper still isn’t buying it:

Let’s remember that the War in Afghanistan costs, according to the Congressional Budget Oficce, about $190 million dollars a day. So the idea that a president’s trip might cost more than the War in Afghanistan just doesn’t make any sense.

His suspicions were backed up by Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell, who said that the military aspect of the rumor is “absolutely absurd… just comical. Nothing close to that is being done.”

Cooper also referred to CNN’s “data wall” (a somewhat absurd thing in itself), which highlighted the costs of previous, more wide-ranging presidential trips, like Bill Clinton‘s to Africa. From here, he concluded that “there’s no reason to believe [Obama's trip] is even close to $200 million a day.”

Ultimately, Cooper wasn’t mad at the media — just disappointed, which is so much worse. He shamed the media and congresspeople, and particularly Rep. Bachmann, saying, “You don’t have to make stuff up.”

Watch Cooper get riled up in the CNN clip below:

AC 360, anderson cooper, CNN, Michelle Bachmann

Big Eddie

It was on the Internet . By law , and the transitive property of web technology , it is true .
RazorsEdge

Good segment. I had this debate with my teenage son yesterday. $200 million/day!!! Let’s get some named sources to declare the actual factual costs. Those who jumped out 1st to politicize are just trying to politicize.

just the facts please, and I believe no one wants to be on some reliable record to provide facts. BUT that’s the point, shouldn’t ponificate as if it were fact. If it’s over the top costs, I’ll be the 1st to scrutinize.

We just don’t reliably know at this point. Cooper’s argument was just as strong as the Indian article.
Cecelia

It would be a stupid quibble even if the trip DID cost that much a day.

It’s the president, dammit. Whatever it costs to protect him and his entourage, is what it costs.
Big Eddie

So Cooper is calling his Indian media brothers a filty pack of liars ? Why the hatred in this season of Diwali that we Americans are so familiar with and greatly revere ? This great American philosopher said it best :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sONfxPCTU0
RazorsEdge

I will also add that this represents some of the distrustful issues with media and blogs. It is what it is. One site says it’s true and another station says it’s not.

For our youth, it’s very hard to navigate what’s truth or not. Not all youth are aware of what news sources can be trusted or not. To many, it’s an online newspaper article or cable news station. I’m finding this is another important area where parents need to educate youth about what’s biased and what’s not. Until our youth are old enough to embrace an ideology that they devloped on their own.

But my cynicism believes blogs, nes sites, cable is fully aware of this.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawn-Soya/1088592828 Shawn Soya

Compared to Rachel Maddow’s similar segment yesterday, I found this piece to be much more fair-minded and without the snark. Cooper really does some good, solid work.
Some_Dude

RazorsEdge said:
I will also add that this represents some of the distrustful issues with media and blogs. It is what it is. One site says it’s true and another station says it’s not.

For our youth, it’s very hard to navigate what’s truth or not. Not all youth are aware of what news sources can be trusted or not. To many, it’s an online newspaper article or cable news station. I’m finding this is another important area where parents need to educate youth about what’s biased and what’s not. Until our youth are old enough to embrace an ideology that they devloped on their own.

But my cynicism believes blogs, nes sites, cable is fully aware of this.

Fox knows, it’s why they lie.
Frankly My Dear

Cooper has done the exact same mythbust(ing) about other stories like the assertion that Obama is a Muslim. You almost have to laugh and I think Daily Show has even laughed at these segments on 360, but the truth is we should be disappointed, because it’s actually needed.
RazorsEdge

Some_Dude said:
Fox knows, it’s why they lie.

So does MSNBC. Why I’m now finding it my responsibility to educate my kids that Fox friendly to the right and MSNBC friendly to the left.

You just listed Fox. For my kids I include both Fox and MSNBC among others. I owe that to them
cjd ohio 1

good job razors edge
stoogedudes

I hope to see more conservatives come on here, and instead of bashing Cooper like most of them usually do, acknowledge that this myth is ridiculous.

And I completely agree with you RazorsEdge. The only person I can really watch anymore on that network is Rachel Maddow, and even she disappoints me sometimes, but CNN is really where to get the most accurate news, even if they can be ridiculous in their stories sometimes.
Jackie_Treehorn

RazorsEdge said:
So does MSNBC. Why I’m now finding it my responsibility to educate my kids that Fox friendly to the right and MSNBC friendly to the left.

You just listed Fox. For my kids I include both Fox and MSNBC among others. I owe that to them

Very true. Both are horrendous networks beholden to their respective Political Parties and not the truth.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Phil-Bourekas/1538058627 Phil Bourekas

Cecelia said:
It would be a stupid quibble even if the trip DID cost that much a day. It’s the president, dammit. Whatever it costs to protect him and his entourage, is what it costs.

I don’t agree that it would be a stupid quibble. I do believe that we spend what we have to on the safety of the president and his senior staff, but if the size of the entourage is accurate, I’d wonder why it needed to be so large. There is a certain boondoggle feel to that number.

That said, it was irresponsible to pass on the $200M/day assertion without some appropriate skepticism and checking. Maybe its $200M for the whole trip (2.5x people of Clinton’s trip suggests $12-15M/day, 9 days–still a bit high, but a lot of money for the trip)–that alone would be enough to object to, without making the ridiculous and provably false claims made.
Thelonious Funk

I heard from this guy who knows someone that read the whole internet that Obama has ordered his staff of 4 billion people to wipe with $10,000 bills. Ladies and gentlemen, your tax dollars at work.
CosmosDan

RazorsEdge said:
For our youth, it’s very hard to navigate what’s truth or not. Not all youth are aware of what news sources can be trusted or not.

For our youth? That wasn’t our youth repeating that nonsense. The problem is IMO that too many people don’t seem to care about the truth as much as whether it’s a conservative or liberal talking point.
CosmosDan

Thank you Anderson. It’s not really new or a mystery but it’s good to keep pointing it out.

Neither Limbaugh, Beck, or Bachman, seem to give a shit about whether it’s true or not as long as they can sling negative shit. It’s better if it’s true , but it doesn’t really matter.
NORBIT

They used the same math for the BILLION jobs that were “saved” in stimulus! lol!
Orion Antares

And despite it being debunked we’ll probably still hear Bachmann cite it in “debate” in Congress. The extremist Righties really have no shame…
NORBIT

Does this really matter?
The flagship station for the radical left just sold-out their headliner – Olbermann is gone!
libra blue

Anderson was making way too much out of this last night. It, as well as the Palin “tweet” story, wasn’t worth the time he wasted on them.

I don’t think it was a mystery that the $22million claim was, as the WH told Anderson, “highly inflated”, but why didn’t he ask for an estimate of what it will cost taxpayers? You would think he would have given us the real figure for comparison.

No matter what, you can bet this trip is going to cost plenty.
Bill Mahwer

So I guess Cooper stayed up all night to figure this out. If only he would give half as much effort to clearing up some missing facts on the Dems in the past three years he might be considered a junior news-guy.

Regardless of the cost this is an absolute waste of time, money and effort by the president. He should be meeting with countries you can enhance the US economy to get things stabilized and not countries who are in part responsible for the economy’s demise.

Another indication the guy is way over his head and doesn’t know where to start. Maybe he canvassed his friends in the press and they came up with this trip as a fix for the economy. Who was it? Christiane Amanpour? I am sure she would do anything to screw up the US economy if she could.
libra blue

@Bill Mahwer, “So I guess Cooper stayed up all night to figure this out.”

It gives him an excuse not to cover the more important issues, like the fact that the Dems got booted out of office by the American people because they don’t like Obama’s policies. It is much easier for him to go back to bashing Palin and the conservatives.

I think he believes doing an Olbermann impression might raise his ratings. Oh wait, Olby got suspended “indefinitely”!
LibertySister

I dont get why he has all this security…I thought the message by Obama and others on the left was the world hated us because of Bush… I thought Obama was going to make everything better and apologies for America to all that hates us…
libra blue

Correction: I meant $200 million.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Martin/43100610 Jon Martin

Bill Mahwer said:
Regardless of the cost this is an absolute waste of time, money and effort by the president. He should be meeting with countries you can enhance the US economy to get things stabilized and not countries who are in part responsible for the economy’s demise.

This is why DUMB “average” civilians don’t make big decisions. How the hell do you know if meeting India is important? WTF do you know? India happens to be our ally in a pretty dangerous territory… also a huge population of the country speaks english.. oh but who cares, Obama is related to it, so now India sucks.

Scary minds O_O
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Martin/43100610 Jon Martin

LibertySister said:
I dont get why he has all this security…I thought the message by Obama and others on the left was the world hated us because of Bush… I thought Obama was going to make everything better and apologies for America to all that hates us…

I’d like to also point out this is an especially dumb comment. Oh and other countries do hate us. Mostly because of George Bush and the fact half of our stupid country doesn’t believe in global warming. Every other country is setting plans in motion to stop it and also prepare their country for what will happen. Not the US, Republicans are AGAINST reality and made Al Gore a laughing stock. Why? Because the best way to ruin someone’s message is make them a joke. What was his message? Renewable energy, something that is a positive in every country but ours. I digress…
libra blue

Just a reminder, but the first WTC bombing happened in 1993 on Bill Clinton’s watch.
The_Reasonable_Lib

I wonder if those on the right will admit that they propagated a lie. No, they’ll probably just laugh it off like they do all their other lies.
sharonrj52

Of course they have to cover his butt What else would the Obama press do. A bunch of idiots
WilsonTheHeretic

They deserve to be ashamed. I am SO utterly embarrassed by my fellow Conservatives right now. Guys, there’s PLENTY of stuff to criticize Obama for without resorting to unsubstantiated crap like this.
writer

Now I guess Adam and Jamie will try going to Mumbai and seeing if they can do it for less than $200 million a day.
LOGICandREASON

Reminds me of The Law of Karma. The Democrats used precisely the same tactics against President Bush during his second term in office, and afterward the Democrats and Obama Campaign team used the same tactics to have him elected into office in 2008. Their loyal friends the mainstream media worked so hard for the Democrats, now they see how painful it is when half-truths are consistently talked about as if they were accurate facts.

I’m so glad a significant portion of the public will buy most or all of the half-truths which resonates more with those who rely a lot on the media for facts. What goes around comes around.
musiccityvic

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326962/Obamas-security-extraordinary-measures-tour-Gandhi-museum-erectign-bomb-proof-tunnel-air-conditioning.html?ITO=1490

The stuff and lengths they are going to is downright silly if it is true. We shall see.
Tedderman

Who needs Facts when the right has Fox? If it’s a lie you can get some mileage against the president with, just do it.. 24/7, lies, completely un-Fair for the mentally un -Balanced.
misterbee

‘stoogedudes’ wrote:

“I hope to see more conservatives come on here, and instead of bashing Cooper like most of them usually do, acknowledge that this myth is ridiculous.”

Well, here’s a conservative, but what I’m about to post may upset you further. I don’t know what this little junket is going to cost you and me, the taxpayers. I’ve heard reports on radio news programs of as much as $1 billion dollars PER DAY. (As someone told me many years ago, run the numbers. Even $200 million seems extreme.) But allow me to point out several facts that have helped these numbers “get legs”.

This president and this administration were, by their own statements, going to be the most ethical and transparent in history. However, the media did not do their job in investigating Senator Obama’s background. Rather, the vast majority of “reporters” served as cheerleaders for Mr. Obama and smeared anyone who dare question his background or qualifications. “The most ethical administration in history” has proven to be one of, if not THE most corrupt in history. The president has appointed “Czars” to run entire sections of the federal government. (They have been appointed outside normal channels to avoid review.) And the Liberal Media reports…nothing. Congress, controlled by Democrats and run by Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Reid, have passed legislation before reading it. Consider Speaker Pelosi’s defense of passing the “health care” bill, “We have to pass this bill to find out what’s in it.” If my attorney said to me, “You have to sign this contract to find out what’s in it.”, I would fire him on the spot. But the “reporters” at MSNBC and every other media outlet (except Fox News), cheered the Speaker.

[ASIDE: Mrs. Pelosi stated that "3,000 to 4,000 Americans are dying every day because they have no health insurance". That sounds like an emergency to me, but the Democrats were satisfied to postpone the implementation of the legislation until 2014. If we have an "emergency" why wait four years to address it? Address it NOW! You might also ask why, if this is a "health care" bill, were the first spending authorizations under this bill the hiring of 16,000 new agents for the Internal Revenue Service? I can't speak for anyone else, but when I'm sick, I call my doctor, not the local IRS office. The "health care" bill is jammed full of Socialists Wish List items. I defy you or anyone else to read it, (that's if you can locate a copy), and try to determine what percentage of the legislation actually pertains to health care.]

You neglected to mention the numbers that have been tossed around regarding the entourage that will be traveling with the president. Again, I’ve heard reports that number in the thousands. True or false? When it comes to protecting the President I have no quarrel. But how many of his entourage are Secret Service? How many are just parasites? I have no idea, but here’s a suggestion. If security is such a concern that we need thousands of security personnel, since we already have a naval presence in the Indian Ocean, let’s simply berth the President aboard an aircraft carrier or heavy cruiser. The Marine detachments aboard can be trusted with the task.

Having said that, I would suggest you go back to the Presidential Inauguration in January, 2005. Review what the Leftist Media had to say regarding the cost of the inauguration. You may detect just a whiff of hypocrisy. And did you watch MSNBC on this past election night? The conduct of Olbermann, Maddow, Matthews, et al. was off the scale rude and totally unprofessional. The same Media Leftists who whine about the loss of civility in political discourse treated Republicans who won elections as rudely as I have ever witnessed. Chris Matthews asking Congresswoman-elect Michele Bachmann in mantra-like chant, “Michele are you hypnotizedMichele are you hypnotizedMichele are you hypnotized?” while one of Matthews colleagues giggled like a teenaged girl in the background? The reason the cost of this trip has gathered attention is mainly because the vast majority of “reporters” have prostituted themselves to the Democrats and Socialist causes, which has cost the media the trust and respect of a sizable portion of the American public. I do not watch Anderson Cooper. He may be highly trustworthy. Or he may not. if he is, sadly, he will probably be tarred with the same brush as his co-workers at CNN.

As a parting thought, you may read (if you dare) the article at Hindustan Times: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Obama-to-use-teleprompter-for-Hindi-speech/H1-Article1-622605.aspx

It contains such thoughts as:

“We thought Obama is a trained orator and skilled in the art of mass address with his continuous eye contact,” an official, who did not wish to be identified because of security restrictions, said.

Obama is known to captivate audiences with his one-liners that sound like extempore and his deep gaze. But few in India know that the US president always carries the teleprompter with him wherever he speaks.

Teleprompters, also called autocue or telescript, are mostly used by TV anchors to read out texts scrolling on a screen and attached to a camera in front of them.”

And just one final question; what exactly IS the purpose of the President visiting India? Is it just to visit the Ghandi memorial? Is it to irritate Pakistan? Can ANYONE tell me?

There’s a conservative response to your request. I pray your head doesn’t explode.
misterbee

Alright. I’m sorry. I just can’t stand it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tX2xFWSS38

Hava a nice weekend.
DrFunke

When will people realize that whether this rumor is true or not is absolutely irrelevant?

Those who believe it do so because they WANT it to be true….not because they have facts for it

The birthers are a great example. They have absolutely nothing to back it up and yet….still believe it based on things with zero substance or reality
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Ward/100000135233619 Mark Ward

Okay, Anderson… I’m not married to the $200 MILLION a day figure, or even the 3,000 (or 2,000) “guests, or the 34 Navy war ships.

FINE. Those figures are WRONG.

BUT, “widly inflated” and NOT a factual FIGURE.

I don’t buy that telling us HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GOING or HOW MUCH IT’S GOING TO COST THE TAXPAYER is, in ANY WAY, a “National Security” issue.

Is it TRUE or FALSE (that they’re removing the coconuts from the trees, for fear that one might try to assasinate the President)?

Is it TRUE or FALSE that they’ve booked the ENTIRE Taj Mahal hotel (frankly, for Security purposes doing so is probably a GOOD idea)?

Is it TRUE or FALSE that they’re ALSO booking HUNDREDS of rooms in OTHER HOTELS AS WELL?

ANYONE care to tell us what the CARBON FOOTPRINT for this trip is (ALL the planes, SUVs, Navy ships [however many there are])?

How about YOU (Mr. Cooper) – doing YOUR “follow-up reporting” and get us some FACTS about what it IS COSTING us, how many people ARE ACCOMPANYING THE President, what the purpose of the trip IS?
http://none pyrope

There are stated costs and there are underlying costs. We shall likely never know the true amount of the underlying costs. $2 billion for the total price tag is probably a bit short of the actual figure.

Oh well, at least we can say the -0bamas knew how to milk the poor taxpaying slobs out of some great vacations.
sarainitaly

Has Anderson done any fact checking or follow up besides one trip by Clinton? I did, and the numbers so far that are coming out of India, since his arrival, are proving to be true.

Also, the article never said the US was sending 34 war ships – it said 34 war ships would be protecting him.

A warship is not necessarily a 10,000 person aircraft carrier. OFFSHORE PATROL VESSELS are considered warships – I have a list of them, and links here:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/glenn-beck-lawrence-odonnells-socialist-admission-is-precursor-to-the-event/#comment-208463

That said, I think the costs are more like $20M a day, for a total of $200M. Perhaps it was an mathematical error?
http://sarainitalyblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/india-trip-wildly-inflated.html
sarainitaly

pyrope said:
There are stated costs and there are underlying costs. We shall likely never know the true amount of the underlying costs. $2 billion for the total price tag is probably a bit short of the actual figure.

true – the reports i found from Clinton and Bush trips do not include Secret Service costs.