CNN denies claims that Florida shooting survivor was given a 'scripted' question to ask at a town hall

Screenshot/Fox News

Fox host Tucker Carlson and Parkland shooting survivor Colton Haab

• Parkland, Florida high school student Colton Haab told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday night that CNN re-wrote a question for him to ask at the network's town hall.
• CNN said there is "absolutely no truth" to Haab's claim that he was told to "stick to the script." 
• President Donald Trump tweeted about the interview on Thursday night, calling CNN "fake news," while Carlson said he will provide "new evidence" about the town hall during his Friday night show.  

Parkland, Florida high school student Colton Haab told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday night that a CNN producer crafted a "scripted" question for him to ask at the network's Wednesday town hall on school shootings and that he decided not to participate in the event as a result. 

"In my interview with CNN, I had talked about arming the teachers, if they were willing to arm themselves in the school, to carry on campus," Haab said. "And they had - she had taken that, of what I had briefed on, and actually wrote that question out for me."

"That seems dishonest," Carlson said. 

"It definitely did and that's kinda why I didn't go last night," Haab replied. "Originally I had thought it was going to be more of my own question and my own say and she had actually said that over the phone, that I needed to stick to the script."

But CNN says there is "absolutely no truth" to Haab's claims, which he originally made on local TV news in Miami.

A CNN source told Business Insider that CNN executive producer Carrie Stevenson talked with Haab on the phone after Haab submitted several questions to the network. The two decided on the call that Haab would ask one question concerning training teachers and school staff to carry arms, which Haab had talked about in an interview with "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday. Haab suggested that football coach Aaron Feis, who was killed while protecting students, could have stopped the shooter had he been armed.

The source says the final version of the question was made up of the "the verbatim language" Haab used on "Fox & Friends" about Feis in addition to his question about training teachers to be armed.

The source said that Haab's father, Glenn Haab, pulled his son out of the event after insisting that the younger Haab deliver a lengthy speech providing context for three questions he wanted to ask lawmakers. CNN said the speech was too long, given time constraints, and asked Haab to "stick to" the question he originally submitted to CNN.

"We did not in any way craft any part of the question or statement that proceeded it," the source said. 

"CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night's town hall, nor have we ever," CNN spokesman Richard Hudock said. "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."

The CNN source added that neither Fox nor Carlson asked CNN for comment on Haab's claims. 

Haab offered to read the question he would have asked at the town hall while on Carlson's show, but Carlson didn't take him up on it. 

On Thursday night, the president tweeted about the segment, accusing CNN of being "fake news." 

"'School shooting survivor says he quit @CNN Town Hall after refusing scripted question.' @TuckerCarlson. Just like so much of CNN, Fake News," Trump wrote. "That's why their ratings are so bad! MSNBC may be worse." 

Haab, a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps who helped usher dozens of his classmates to safety during the shooting, said he only watched "a little bit" of the town hall, during which his fellow Parkland students and parents of those killed asked questions of lawmakers, a National Rifle Association spokeswoman, and law enforcement. 

"I knew that what happened with me, that it was going to be more scripted and wasn't actually going to be actual questions, so I didn't feel the need to fully watch it," Haab said. 

Carlson said he will reveal "new evidence" about Haab's claims during his Friday evening show.