Latest news with #WolfBlitzer
New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Nathan Fielder, Creator of ‘The Rehearsal,' Calls the F.A.A. ‘Dumb'
Nathan Fielder, the creator of the HBO comedy-documentary series 'The Rehearsal,' extended his show's commingling of performance and reality with a live appearance on CNN on Thursday. Fielder went on 'The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown' to promote the second season of 'The Rehearsal' (whose finale aired on Sunday), and to raise awareness about airline pilot safety. Fielder had been closely examining safety in the season, including the communication between pilots and co-pilots, which he argued is poor and is a key factor in many plane crashes. In the finale, Fielder himself flew a Boeing 737 passenger jet with more than 100 actors on board in an attempt to simulate inter-pilot communication on real-world commercial flights. On 'The Situation Room,' he fired back at criticism from the Federal Aviation Administration, which said in a statement to CNN that it 'isn't seeing the data that supports the show's central claim that pilot communications is to blame for airline disasters.' 'Well that's dumb, they're dumb,' Fielder said, sitting next to John Goglia, an aviation expert and former National Transportation Safety Board member who appeared as an adviser on 'The Rehearsal' this season. Fielder criticized the F.A.A.'s training standards, which he said do not adequately prepare pilots and co-pilots to speak their mind if they have a concern. 'The training is someone shows you a PowerPoint slide saying 'If you are a co-pilot and the pilot does something wrong, you need to speak up about it,'' he said. 'That's all. That's the training.' On Friday, the F.A.A. said in a statement that it 'requires all airline crew members (pilots and flight attendants) and dispatchers to complete Crew Resource Management training,' which focuses on interactions among crew members. 'They must complete this training before they begin working in their official positions and complete it on a recurring basis afterward,' the F.A.A. said. Over the course of six episodes, Fielder recruited several pilots to participate in elaborate role-playing scenarios that tested their ability to navigate sensitive conversations. In one episode, a pilot was encouraged to confront his girlfriend with suspicions of disloyalty while seated next to her in a mock cockpit. In another, several pilots were graded on their ability to deliver harsh feedback to contestants in a fake singing competition show. Although the scenarios are contrived and frequently involve actors, the show also regularly depicts what appear to be genuine interactions with nonactors. The fifth episode featured an awkward interview with a congressman, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, a member of the aviation subcommittee. And Goglia's appearances are played completely straight. 'It's exploded,' Goglia said on 'The Situation Room,' when asked about the public reaction to the show. 'My emails exploded, my messages exploded, my grandkids were all over me — it's unbelievable, the response.'
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
‘It's not going to work' Jonathan Capehart on Elon Musk's attempts to distance himself from Trump
Jonathan Capehart of The Washington Post talks about Elon Musk's efforts to distance himself from the President as he departs the Trump administration and talks with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about his new book.
CNN
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Hear what Wolf Blitzer loves most about his hometown
To celebrate the launch of CNN Original series 'My Happy Place,' Wolf Blitzer travels to his hometown of Buffalo, New York. He eats one of the city's most famous foods, and travels across the Canadian border to get a view one of upstate New York's most popular attractions. Watch 'My Happy Place,' Sundays at 10 pm ET/PT as your favorite celebrities travel to their favorite places.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
CNN stars Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown put on the spot in excruciating on-air interview
Comedian Nathan Fielder left CNN stars Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown lost for words as he suggested Blitzer's position at the company might scare her away from criticizing him. The 42-year-old appeared on their show on Thursday to discuss his HBO series 'The Rehearsal' that recently wrapped up its second season. Fielder pushed the idea in his show that a lack of communication between pilot and co-pilot is a contributing factor to airline crashes. In a bid to prove this he used the two as an example, saying: 'The issue that we talked about in the show is people not wanting to share their feelings with each others co-pilots. 'One might be of higher, more experience, than the other so they might know the thing that might save a plane from crashing but might not want to communicate it.' He then turned to Blitzer and Brown, saying: 'I assume between you two, there is things you probably don't share too.' Blitzer interrupted saying: 'We like each other and we talk to each other', as Brown added: '[Blitzer] should be the captain is what you're saying.' Fielder continued: 'Between you two, who would be like the boss. You're Wolf Blitzer so you're name is first on the thing.' He continued: 'So I'm sure Pamela at times you might not want to say "Wolf wants to do something", that you don't think is a good idea.' Visibly uncomfortable, Brown interrupted and gestured to their production team behind the camera as she said: 'I understand your point.' 'You have to say that now', Fielder added. Before Blitzer interrupted that Brown would address any issues if she felt it necessary. She adds: 'The great thing about Wolf is he doesn't have an ego, he has no ego but I take your point that he's a big deal.' Fielder continues: 'That's intimidating, that could be intimidating. That's the sort of thing we're trying to explore a little'. For the show the comedian went as far as to get his commercial pilot license after years of training and flew a 737 with 150 actors on board for the show. The show's premise is to make fake scenarios look as realistic as possible. Fans of the show have since found him on the FAA database and the flight path he took. He appeared alongside aviation expert John Goglia as he also branded the Federal Aviation Administration as being 'dumb' over their response to the show. For the show the comedian went as far as to get his commercial pilot license. He is seen here appearing on Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday night in a full pilots outfit After years of training he flew a 737 with 150 actors on board for the show A statement from the FAA shot down Fielder's assertation that the pilot communications are to blame for airline disasters. They said: 'The Federal Aviation Administration requires all airline crewmembers (pilots and flight attendants) and dispatchers to complete Crew Resource Management training. 'They must complete this training before they begin working in their official positions and complete it on a recurring basis afterward. 'The Federal Aviation Administration analyzes data from a variety of sources such as an airline's Safety Management System (SMS), Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), and Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program (VDRP). 'If these programs identify elevated risks, appropriate action is taken by both the airline and the FAA to mitigate the risk and ensure safety. The FAA does not have data which supports these claims.' In response he told CNN: 'That's dumb. They're dumb. Here's the issue: I trained to be a pilot. I'm a 737 pilot. I went through the training. 'The training is someone shows you a PowerPoint slide saying, "If you are a co-pilot and the captain does something wrong, you need to speak up about it." 'That's all. That's the training, and they talk about some crashes that happen, but they don't do anything that makes it stick emotionally.' After a string of acclaimed comic performances, Fielder, known for his socially awkward humor and demeanor, broke out in 2013 with his Comedy Central series 'Nathan For You'. He played a version of himself who tried to help struggling business and entrepreneurs with hilariously harebrained schemes. 'The Rehearsal' features Fielder using elaborate sets and carefully placed actors to replicate the experiences of real-life people in minute detail. The topic of aviation safety came to him when he started to notice that 'they can always solve the technical stuff when a crash happens, they work really hard to make sure that type of accident doesn't happen again. But for the human factor — communication — the thing keeps happening where there's miscommunication between pilots.'
CNN
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Wolf Blitzer explores the city that holds a special place in his heart
Wolf Blitzer explores the city that holds a special place in his heart To celebrate the launch of CNN Original series 'My Happy Place,' CNN's own anchors and reporters take us to their favorite destinations — their own happy places. In this episode, Wolf Blitzer travels to his 'Happy Place' - his hometown of Buffalo, New York. He eats one of the city's most famous foods, and travels across the Canadian border to get a view one of upstate New York's most popular attractions. Watch 'My Happy Place,' Sundays at 10 pm ET/PT as your favorite celebrities travel to their favorite places.
